


Lavander Smiles

by elegant_tree



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Angst, Artist Hinata Shouyou, Autistic Character, Bullied Hinata Shouyou, Bullies, Deaf Character, Disabled Character of Color, Disabled Characters, Ennoshita Chikara is a Good Friend, Ennoshita Chikara is a Human Disaster, F/M, Fluff, Gay Awakening, Getting Together, Hinata Shouyou Needs a Hug, Hinata Shouyou is a Good Friend, Hurt Hinata Shouyou, Hurt/Comfort, Kageyama Tobio is Bad at Feelings, Kageyama Tobio is a Mess, M/M, Other, Sad Kageyama Tobio, Sassy Hinata Shouyou, Teen Romance, Teenage Drama, deaf Hinata Shouyou
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:02:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 26,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26218324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elegant_tree/pseuds/elegant_tree
Summary: His sketchbook was thrown off to the side, ripped and ruined, covered in mud and other questionable liquids. His drawings inside of all things pretty and lovely like his mother or lavenders, smudged and turned ugly with sewer muck.What a distinct depiction of reality.Shouyou didn’t expect the routine to change, he didn’t expect the beatings to stop, he didn’t expect to make any friends, he didn’t expect to be treated as an equal.Until the school introduced a new program for disabled kids.--Or where Hinata is Deaf, Kageyama is bad at feelings, and Ennoshita is a human disaster
Relationships: Ennoshita Chikara & Hinata Shouyou, Hinata Shouyou & Karasuno Volleyball Club, Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio
Comments: 150
Kudos: 389





	1. Friend

**Author's Note:**

> TRIGGER WARNING  
> bullying + brief discussion of racism and colorism

Shouyou liked to draw.

He liked to draw with the chunky crayons that his teachers gave him or the fancy pens that his Father warned him not to touch, or with the dusty chalk on the chalkboard even though the white powdery stuff got all over his hands. 

He didn’t have many friends, most of the children avoided him like he was sick and the ones who didn’t avoid him played odd games with him that he never understood. The other children never taught Shouyou the rules to the games but he had a general idea of how the games went. There was one where they would throw his papers in the air and he had to jump to catch them without getting tagged. There was another funny little game where they would chase Shouyou, he didn’t like it very much though because once they caught him they would push him into the ground and hurt him. Shouyou didn’t understand how the games worked or why he was so bad at them, he supposes he should just be glad that they’re including him at all, his mother had always taught him to be grateful for the little things. Shouyou just  _ really  _ wished that the children would tell him what the rules are to the games, maybe then he wouldn’t get hurt as much, and then his mother wouldn't seem so upset whenever he came home.

But he supposes that they couldn’t teach him even if they tried, because Shouyou couldn’t hear.

He’d never been able to for as long as he could remember. His mother claimed that it's the reason that he liked to draw so much because without his hearing he was able to focus on the better things in life. She was always right, so Shouyou didn’t dare go against her word. 

Hearing or not, Shouyou still came home from Primary school with torn-up knees, missing books, and ripped papers with a smile on his face. His mother always told him to be grateful for the little things in life, right?

\--

During middle school Shouyou became familiar with the games, he knew all the rules and loop-holes in them, he knew every different outcome of them. Most of the outcomes ended with him being shoved and beat into the floor in the alley just behind the schoolyard. If he was lucky, they’d be caught by a teacher or some other adult. Though, that wouldn’t save him for the cruel outcome of the next day when the children would come at him with twice as much force. 

So Shouyou stayed on the floor and took the beatings when they came, it was much much easier this way. In a way, it was calming, maybe welcoming, only because Shouyou went all fuzzy and numb in the middle of the beatings. He liked the familiar empty hum that rang in his body, the dull ache he felt every time another kick swung his way, the blurred vision. Sometimes, he forgot he was on the floor though, the bullies would be there one moment and the next they would be gone and it’d be dark already, the stray dogs shuffling through his bag and the street lights flickering on. 

His sketchbook was usually thrown off to the side, ripped and ruined, covered in mud and other questionable liquids. His drawings inside of all things pretty and lovely like his mother or lavenders, ruined and destroyed. 

(What a distinct depiction of reality)

Shouyou didn’t expect the routine to change, he didn’t expect the beatings to stop, he didn’t expect to make any friends, he didn’t expect to be treated as an  _ equal.  _

Until the school introduced a new program for disabled kids.

It was a program that introduced high school student volunteers, or  _ ‘leaders’  _ to the teaching setting of disabled students through different ‘creative outlets’ (it was so  _ so  _ stupid). The school had sent a bunch of the dumb flyers out to all of the disabled students (they were literally charity cases, it was  _ humiliating-) _ in the area. Shouyous mother had been absolutely thrilled at the idea of Shouyou being given the _ ‘opportunity to make a friend!!’  _ Which didn’t make sense because he already  _ had  _ a friend. She may live three hours away and they may not be able to see each other at school but they still texted! He didn’t need another friend!

When Shouyou told his mom so, she had vehemently argued that one friend wasn’t enough. It was hard to argue with his mother when her eyes were filled with hope for him to finally have a normal childhood. He knew his mother blamed herself for everything that’s happened to him, for the bullying, the isolation, the abandonment. Of course he never in a million years would agree with it but… it sometimes hurt to know that his mother was hurting for something that wasn’t even her fault. So Shouyou gave in.

Fortunately for Shouyou, this probably meant that he didn’t have to show up to his scheduled beat down every day after school anymore.  _ Unfortunately _ for Shouyou, this meant that he’d be in the stupid club but alas, his mother was impossible to say no to  _ so- _

Hinata Shouyou joined the stupid dumb annoying insulting charity case club. Otherwise known as S.M.I.L.E, which stood for Significant Minds in Loving Environments.

(Shouyou would much rather get pulverized than be shoved into a club for being disabled all because the school wanted some extra brownie points)

The club was after school, hosted in the lunchroom of Shouyous very own middle school. S.M.I.L.E worked so that all of the disabled kids were broken up into ‘high-functioning’ and ‘low-functioning’ groups which were probably the dumbest concept Shouyou had ever come across in his life. (It was insulting, measuring a person's validation by how ‘normal’ they are. Jeez.) After they were categorized like livestock, they were each assigned a group volunteer. The volunteers used whiteboards to write down directions, and Hinata was sure that someone else was speaking somewhere. Most kids in the lunchroom were either mute, deaf,  _ both,  _ or blind. There were only about 20 kids in the S.M.I.L.E club so there were a couple of extra volunteers leftover who helped out with the low-functioning group of kids (What a  _ joke _ )

Shouyou was directed to the high-functioning group of kids and opted for sitting down on the cafeteria floor instead of standing like the rest of the group while they were getting sorted to their individual 'leaders.' Shouyou huffed bitterly, his entire body bubbling over with resentment for the stupid 'club.'

Shouyou was only here because his mother had been so  _ so  _ excited over the idea of him making friends with other disabled kids and he couldn’t stand to disappoint her when she had so much hope in her eyes. Everyone had always compared him to his mother, but Shouyou couldn’t really see how. His mother was all soft blurred lines, honey brown eyes, and pretty red curls. His mother was everything soft and warm while Shouyou…  _ wasn’t. _

Suddenly, a plain-looking boy with kind eyes crouched down in front of him. He was probably the leader that was assigned to Shouyou since he had on a baby blue polo and khakis like the rest of the volunteers. 

**_ ‘Hello.’  _ ** the boy signed, a warm smile on his face.  **_ ‘My name is E-N-N-O-S-H-I-T-A-C-H-I-K-A-R-A’  _ ** he continued (even though Shouyou already knew that from the nametag on his shirt)  **_ ‘You can call me Cat. What is your name?’ _ **

_ Cat?  _ Hinata wondered how he had been labeled  _ Cat.  _ Maybe it was his favorite animal, or maybe he had a couple of them in his childhood. Now that Shouyou thought about it, he _ did _ look a little bit like he would be a cat person, not the crazy-old-lady-hoarder type but the softer type, the kind that lounged in cafes and read books all day.

When Shouyou brought his hands up to respond Ennoshita’s smile widened and he gave an encouraging nod. For a second there, Shouyou swore that he saw a flash of his mother’s warm face in Ennoshita, but he quickly pushed the thought away.

**_ ‘H-I-N-A-T-A-S-H-O-U-Y-O-U. Sun.’ _ ** Sun was his sign name, one of his mother's deaf friends (Miss. Abe) had assigned it to him when he was back in primary school. He was born without hearing, so his parents had decided to get involved in the Deaf Community early on to perfect sign language and adjust to the lifestyle. Some of the people that had helped his parents raise Shouyou the best that they could were life-long friends. Miss. Abe was Shouyous favorite, she and her husband always brought over sweets for Natsu, and when Natsu was happy, S _ houyou  _ was happy.

**_ ‘How did you get your name?’ _ ** Shouyou asked,  **_ ‘Cat?’ _ **

Ennoshita gave a burst of silent laughter and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.  **_ 'We have a lot of cats.'  _ ** He hesitated momentarily,  **_ 'My mother loves them.'  _ **

_ His  _ mother loved them or  _ he  _ loved them? __ Because Shouyou could  _ swear _ that the ridiculous amount of keychains on Ennoshitas phone were all in the same strange shape that looked  _ awfully familiar to a cat- _

Ennoshita laughed at Shouyou, the doubt must have been showing on his face. His mother had always said that his faces were expressive.  **_ 'Okay, I love them too.'  _ ** Ennoshita admitted with a meek smile. He smiled a lot. Shouyou was beginning to think that it was the only thing that he could do.

Still, Shouyou wondered how he was introduced into the Deaf Community. Perhaps someone he knew was Deaf, or maybe he had connections through friends. His sign language was good, well practiced and almost a smooth as Shouyous own.

He felt his phone vibrate against his side suddenly. Shouyou placed his hand on top of his pocket, it was probably Aliyah.

Aliyah is a pretty dark-skinned girl that he had met in a Disabled Summer Camp last summer break. Her dad is in the military so her family is forced to move around a lot. She had Aspergers and only knew sign language because  _ 'sometimes' _ , she had said,  _ 'talking makes me feel bad.'  _ Her JSL isn’t perfect but she was still probably the closest thing that Shouyou had ever had to a best friend, they texted on the daily. Shouyou thinks that Aliyah Thomas might just be the greatest human being ever to exist (aside from his mother, of course). 

**_ ‘Your name came from your hair? It is very bright.' _ **

Shouyou subconsciously snagged at his frivolous curls. Both Natsu and himself had inherited his mother's head of wild red curls (albeit she wore her with more  _ elegance _ )  **_ ‘Yes.' _ **

**_ ‘Nice to meet you, Sun.’ _ ** Ennoshita stuck out his hand for Shouyou to shake. So he did.

Ennoshita bobbed his head and puffed out his cheeks just the slightest, scanning the cafeteria for something that Shouyou wasn’t aware of. Shouyou’s phone hummed in his pocket again, but just as he unlocked it Ennoshita carefully used two fingers to lower the screen. 

**_ ‘Do you like volleyball?’  _ ** He signed over the top of Shouyous screen

_ What kind of dumb question was that? _ He was  _ deaf. _ Deaf people didn’t  _ do  _ sports. (Not to mention that he was a pint-sized squirt but that was a conversation for another time)

**_ ‘Never played.’ _ **

**_ ‘Would you like to play?’  _ ** Ennoshita shot back without skipping a beat.

_ Not really.  _

Shouyou thought about what he  _ really  _ wanted to do, he felt the weight of his sketchbook in his bag, thrown hazardously in there during the free-period before school started.

(The only time he was allowed the privilege to indulge in the quite possibly the  _ only _ thing keeping him sane.)

Shouyou remembered how the boy outside the stall he had confided in pounded on the door. He remembered how the boy had rattled at the door and yelled so loudly that Shouyou could feel the vibrations against the walls. How he found Shouyou, he didn't know.

Taking his sketchbook out was just  _ asking  _ for it, the crude group of boys could sniff the stupid thing out like a couple of blood-hounds. 

(He pushed away the thought that maybe Ennoshita was different)

**_ 'Would you like to play volleyball? _ ** ' Ennoshita asked again.

_ No.  _ **_ ‘...Okay.’ _ **

\--

Long story short Shouyou ended up liking the club a lot more than he thought he would.

**_ ‘I thought you said it was insulting and dumb.’ _ ** Aliyah frowned from her spot at Shouyou’s dining room table. There was a notebook open in front of her, pens and pencils aligned neatly beside it for her picking.

**_ ‘It is!’  _ **

**_ ‘But you talk like you like it.’ _ ** She tilted her head, confused. She was visiting for the weekend, her parents were in the living room chatting with his own. Shouyou sighed and snapped his sketchbook closed from where it lay open in front of him. The colored pencils scattered off into some unknown abyss.

**_ ‘I like Cat and Cat with a volleyball. That is it.’  _ ** Ennoshita’s sign name sounded sort of ridiculous in everyday normal conversation (well, as  _ normal  _ as you can get with JSL), but then again so did all sign names when you really put it into perspective.

Shouyou and Ennoshita ended up really hitting it off, so much so that Shouyou had even enrolled in Karasuno High School for the next school year. It's where Ennoshita went to school, he was even on the Karasuno volleyball team! Shouyou could definitely see how. He was really good at...  _ everything  _ (Even when he insisted he wasn't). Ennoshita even got to see some of Shouyous Drawings.

He hated to admit it, but without the stupid club he would have ended up going to some other garbage high school with all of its garbage people. Instead, he was going to Karasuno (a less garbage high school) with all of its less-garbage people and  _ Ennoshita  _ (a  _ friend!) _ . Shouyou could go to high school now and expect there to be a  _ friend  _ waiting for him after school. He could go out into the courtyard during lunch and expect there to be a  _ friend  _ (A FRIEND!) waiting for him. It was the best feeling in the  _ world _ . 

**_ ‘Join the volleyball team at K-A-R-A-S-U-N-O, you can have Cat and Cat with a volleyball that way.’ _ ** Her eyes flitted to the corner of the table as she rocked side to side absentmindedly.  **_ ‘I wish I could go to K-A-R-A-S-U-N-O. I want to be with you. And Cat. And Cat with a volleyball.’  _ **

Shouyou felt a pang of guilt at the reminder that Aliyah wouldn’t be attending school with any friends, any not-garbage people, _ or  _ any Ennoshitas. She would go to her fancy school three hours away (her father got very good benefits from the military), and she’d still be mocked and pinched and poked and insulted by all the garbage-people who threw paper clips at her hair and made fun of her skin.

**_ ‘It is ok, Author,’  _ ** Shouyou reassured, his heart twisting when Aliyah sunk down in her seat with a frown.  **_ ‘We can still talk through the phone!’ _ **

_ Author _ was Aliyah's sign name. She was crazy good at making up stories and writing them up, she always carried around a notebook and a pen with her. Shouyou thinks that she got her name from America, (where she was raised for most of her life) since she had never mentioned interacting with any of the local deaf communities. There were only a few in the area to begin with.

**_ ‘I like being with you. In-person.’  _ ** She took a moment to fluff back out her hair. It was different from the last time he had seen her, back when her hair was in ‘Goddess Twists’ (Shouyou didn’t really know the difference between all the types of braids and twists but he did know that the Goddess Twists were  _ very  _ pretty). Right now though her hair was out in an afro which Shouyou thought looked very nice too, there weren't a lot of people in Japan that looked like Aliyah, but if Shouyou had to guess- she was one of the prettiest in the area. 

**_ ‘Then I will steal you. You can live under my bed.’ _ **

Aliyah looked alarmed,  **_ ‘Why would you steal me?!’ _ **

**_ ‘You are my best friend.’ _ ** Shouyou signed firmly. 

**_ ‘But why would you-’ _ **

Shouyou felt a wave of vibrations shake with the table, he turned to see a hand gently tapping at the table to get their attention. It was his mother,  **_ ‘Come. Dinner is ready.’  _ ** She paused to snap her fingers in the direction of the kitchen once, twice,  **_ ‘Do not steal Author, please’ _ ** She added sternly (there was still a smile on her face).

Even as they were eating dinner together, Shouyou felt a pang of nostalgia for what would probably be the last time he’s ever had a break from everything bad and garbage. Here he was, at a table with all of his favorite things in the universe a week before high school started; with Aliyah's big hair puffed out and his father's silent boisterous laugh and Natsu’s stupid karaoke with her invisible microphone that he couldn't hear but still clapped along to anyways- and yet he felt his stomach twist into knots.

Karasuno couldn’t be  _ too  _ bad and garbage this year because he had Ennoshita and Ennoshita with a volleyball. He had somebody to count on now because he had a friend and that's what friends  _ do  _ (he learned that from Aliyah).

Aliyah.

Who he was really worried about was Aliyah. He couldn’t go and protect her; he couldn’t sit with her at lunch or pick the paper clips and pencils out of her hair. She didn’t have an Ennoshita who was so  _ so  _ patient, who told the best jokes, who had a crush on the girl from his English class but didn’t want to tell her-

She didn’t  _ have  _ that. And it hurt Shouyou to think about it.

So Shouyou let the warmth wash over him and prayed that Aliyah would find an Ennoshita at her school too.


	2. Highschool sucks.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shouyou gets his ass folded, Daichi is kinda slow and Suga swoops in to save the day B)
> 
> TRIGGER WARNINGS  
> -bullying  
> -self-deprecating thoughts  
> -physical abuse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Sorry this chapter is late u_u, I'm going through and rewriting all of the prepared chapters right now haha, hopefully from now on all the chapters will be going up on Mondays. Anyway, have a good day

High school was something that Shouyou decided he did not like.

Perhaps he was being biased, but it was incredibly difficult to have a good impression on his new school when he was dry heaving against the side of the school building, getting pulverized by yet _ another  _ cruel batch of upperclassmen, who had handpicked Shouyou from the weakest lot in the new wave of incoming 1st years. 

**_ ‘Have a good first day at school, Sun!’  _ **

Sure. Today was going great. And he’d tell Natsu just that when he arrived back home with a ripped up uniform, missing textbooks, and fresh bruises blossoming underneath his clothing.

**_ ‘You too!’ _ **

_ Shouyou felt a groan rip through his throat as a well-placed kick dug into his side in a way that definitely made his insides feel like they were in a position that they were not supposed to be in. _

It was Natsu’s first day of middle school today. 

She was going to go to school, and enjoy her day. She was going to meet up with her old friends and eat lunch in the courtyard with them, she may even make some  _ new  _ friends. Shouyou didn’t doubt that she’d be able to befriend the whole school by the end of the day, she was a goofy, kind little girl. When she was younger, she was the type of toddler that made you  _ like  _ little kids, always babbling and laughing and being generally unproblematic. As she got older, her attitude didn’t change one bit, she was basically a people magnet. 

She reminded Shouyou of his father. 

_ They were holding him up now against the wall, slamming his back into it with a sloppy grip on his collar. Their mouths were moving, taunting, jeering, mocking. What exactly they were saying, Shouyou didn't know. All he knew was that everything was far away, a distant buzz in his body. Faintly though, he could feel the aches and the pains creeping up into his quiet place inside of his head. _

Today was Shouyous first day of high school. It was going well. It was a good day.

_ Shouyou closed his eyes and let waves of tranquil wash over him. Sometimes if he pretended he was somewhere else, the beatings would magically stop hurting. So Shouyou thought about a nice pretty field with tall grass and blossoming flowers… _

He couldn’t wait to meet up with Ennoshita after school because Ennoshita was always nice and kind and he had texted Shouyou last night talking the girl from his class again and-

_ ….The grip on Shouyous collar loosened... _

-Fingers were snapping in front of his face.

The first thing that Shouyou recognizes is the vibrations under his fingertips. Thundering footsteps are running up and down the ground in tremors. He's crumpled on the ground, cheek pressed uncomfortably into the ground.  _ Right,  _ because today was the first day of high school, and Hinata Shouyou was an easy target.

He was deaf and small and useless and stupid and naive and  _ weird and- _

A face pushed its way into Shouyous field of vision. They were moving their mouth, communicating in a way that he couldn’t understand because his ears were useless and he was  _ deaf. _ Shouyou dragged his fingers along the ground to form a fist, he relished the way that the dirt dug under his fingernails, how the little forgotten pieces of gravel dug into his palm.

Fingers snapping in front of his face again. 

Shouyou was beginning to get irritated. Why couldn’t they understand that he couldn’t  _ hear? _

When he took a moment to really focus on the person he noticed thick eyebrows knitted with worry and a square chin. Their hair and eyes were dark, like Ennoshita, except it wasn’t Ennoshita. Shouyou knew that because their hair was messy and sticking up all over the place. He looked older, older than Ennoshita even (honestly, he looked more like a  _ man- _ )

Shouyous eyes refocused on the flyers behind the frantic boy. They were flyers for some sort of after school club, by the looks of the ball plastered on the paper with grainy ink, a sports club. Ennoshita was in the volleyball club, he was supposed to meet him after school. Volleyball was a sport, right?

Even though Ennoshita insisted that Karasuno would take him as a player regardless if he was deaf or not, Shouyou was more than content with being a water-boy, or perhaps a ball-boy (maybe both!) As long as he got to watch volleyball, Shouyou didn’t mind (because Ennoshita was on the team and Ennoshita was the kindest boy in the world)

_ Huh… Karasuno... Volleyball Team…  _

…

…

_ WAIT- _

Shouyou shot up uneasily from his pathetic pity-party-of-two that he was currently celebrating and flopped ungracefully to the right, successfully snatching one of the fliers in one of his grubby hands (and nearly knocking the wind out of himself).

** KARASUNO VOLLEYBALL CLUB **

** Play on the same court as the Little Giant! **

** Make new friends! **

** And most importantly, have FUN! **

Below the texts were a bunch of digitized grainy photos of volleyball and crummy volleyball puns captions underneath them. _ Jeez, _ the volleyball team really needed to work on their advertising. I mean, who in their right mind would join a club whose flyer had the words  _ “I’ve got 99 problems but a block ain't one”  _ on them? It was horrendous, a true tragedy to the human race. 

Big hands suddenly gripped at Shouyous shoulders pulling him from his place as a dead fish on the ground up into a sitting position. Shouyou looked back up at the apprehensive dark eyes. He brought the flier up to the person's face before jamming his finger into the middle of it.

_ Here! Take me here! _

Shouyou could really use someone who understood him (preferably Ennoshita), and since the stupid 3rd year couldn’t seem to understand him, it was his best bet to get to his friend. Besides, he was probably pretty late for his meetup with Ennoshita anyways, Shouyou wasn’t really sure what time it was but he was certain that school had ended at least a half-hour ago.

(Shouyou pretended that he hadn't succumbed back into the haze that made him lose track of time sometimes. He pretended to not acknowledge that he hadn’t had to pull himself into some foggy mindset since he met Ennoshita.)

Shouyou sighed inaudibly when the older boy started moving his mouth again.  _ Good Grief,  _ this boy was as dumb as a  _ brick- _

The boy's face suddenly brightened at something past Shouyous head and when he turned to look,  _ Oh great _ , there was another older looking boy there. A pity-party-of-three now. A pity-party-of-three with three teenage boys, one of whom was Deaf and looked half-dead and the other two who probably had no idea what JSL even was.

He supposes it wouldn't hurt to try anyway.

**_ ‘Do you understand?’ _ ** Shouyou asked the new boy. A flash of recognition shot past the boy's eyes.  _ Huh. _ He supposes that the universe might be trying to make up for the absolute garbage with all of its garbage people doing all of their garbage things that garbage people do, because Shouyou may have just found another person who spoke JSL.

**_ ‘Do you understand?’ _ ** He repeated, slower this time. When Shouyou looked at the other boy with the darker hair (like Ennoshita), he smacked himself on the forehead like,  _ duh. _ Jeez, took him long enough.

**_ ‘Small.’ _ ** The boy with the silver hair signed, sloppy, and unpracticed. Maybe he took a school course or something on JLS, Shouyou didn’t know and also didn’t care, because this boy might just be his one-way ticket to Ennoshita.

**_ ‘What?’ _ **

**_ ‘Small.’ _ ** The boy signed again.  _ Ah,  _ he must not know very much, his JLS was probably broken and limited. He meant  _ A little,  _ he probably just didn't have a big enough vocabulary. Shouyous face must have twisted up into something ugly because the silver-haired boy smiled apologetically.

**_ ‘Sorry.’ _ ** The boy signed. A little bit of sign language was better than none.

Shouyou waved it away,  _ whatever _ , he just wanted to find Ennoshita. He pointed to the sheet again.  **_ ‘Take me here.’ _ ** The other boy looked back and forth between Shouyou and the sheet and nodded hesitantly. 

**_ ‘S-U-G-A-W-A-R-A’ _ ** The silver hair boy signed firmly as if it was something he had memorized (it probably was, by the looks of it he’d probably only learned a couple of words and his name)

_ What? _ Shouyou didn’t care about them or any of this stupid get-to-know-your-saviors-trash he just  _ really  _ wanted to get to Ennoshita because Ennoshita would be the first person all day to treat him like he wasn’t some disabled basket case, and Ennoshita would be all awkward and bad jokes when Shouyou asked about his day, and Ennoshita would sit still long enough for Shouyou to draw him and Ennoshita would take him out for meat buns and Ennoshita would be-

He would be a  _ friend. _

**_ ‘D-A-I-C-H-I.’  _ ** He signed, uncertain and wobbly, pointing to the dark-haired boy with the square features.

Shouyou paused for a second. He had most  _ definitely  _ heard (shut. up.) those names before in Ennoshita’s long tangents about volleyball.  _ No way. _

**_ ‘E-N-N-O-S-H-I-T-A’ _ ** Shouyou signed fluidly, excited,  **_ ‘E-N-N-O-S-H-I-T-A’ _ ** He signed again, just as quickly even though Sugarawara looked alarmed at the sudden flurry of hands coming from Shouyou.

Ah, yes!

Sugawara, this year's vice-captain and the most excellent setter Karasuno Volleyball team has seen in a reeeeallly long time (and Shouyou means a  _ really,  _ long time. Ennoshita told him all about the history behind Karasuno’s team. Yikes.). Ennoshita said that he always had a plan and that he was able to keep his cool even in the worst situations. Every time without fail he was able to accommodate for any of the player's styles-

**_ ‘E-N-N-O-S-H-I-T-A’ _ ** Shouyou flew through the letters again.

Which brings Shouyou’s attention to Daichi. This year's captain and an excellent role model to say the very least. Ennoshita says that everybody trusts Daichi because he’s always been able to glue the team back together so they at least look  _ presentable  _ during games. He had raw determination and power in his plays. Ennoshita said that Daichi is  _ awesome. _

Sugawara stared back at him with a blank expression on his face. When he shook his head ‘no’, Shouyou felt an involuntary frustrated sound ground itself out of his throat. 

**_ ‘E-N-N-O-S-H-I-T-A!’ _ ** __ He signed, agonizingly slow this time, emphasizing on each and every individual letter so that Sugawara could maybe catch a few words and piece everything together.

Sugawara's face lit up and he nodded with a smile, before pointing back to the volleyball flier. 

Shouyou nodded frantically back before signing again,  **_ ‘E-N-N-O-S-H-I-T-A’ _ **

Sugawara exchanged a few silent words with Daichi before two big hands were under his armpits, lifting him up only to set him back on the ground. Except for this time, he wasn't lying on it like he’d accidentally had a run-in with death, instead, he was on his own two feet. The same pair of hands clapped him on the back so hard that Shouyou almost landed face-first back into the ground. 

Good thing Daichi caught him.

For the rest of the way to the gymnasium, Daichi kept a hand on his elbow, probably making sure that he wouldn’t collapse again even though Shouyou was  _ fine. _

Shouyou was fine even though his torso was laced with bruises and his chest ached whenever he took in a rattling breath. He was fine even though his palms were scraped to all hell and his cheek had a cut in it and  _ oh  _ look at that, his legs were shaking with effort for every step he took.

Shouyou was fine.

_ Yeesh. _ These kids weren’t just some prickly middle school boys, these were 3rd years, borderline  _ men,  _ and they packed a punch all right. Shouyou hadn’t really felt it when he was back on the ground but as soon as he stood up-

_ Ouch _ .

But regardless,  _ Shouyou was fine _ .

Shouyou hadn’t even realized Sugawara had taken his bag off of his shoulder until he set it gently inside the nurse's office, beside one of those uncomfortable red chairs that absolutely  _ nobody  _ liked.

Wait.

THE NURSE?!

Daichis' stupid big hands pushed him back onto the nurses bed (y’ know, the one that Shouyou had somehow magically teleported onto) when he struggled to sit back up. Shouyou jammed his finger several times into the stupid crumpled volleyball flyer, frantically waving his hands in front of Daichi so he understood. 

Apparently, he didn’t get the memo and neither did Sugawara (or maybe he did? The traitor.) 

He just wanted to see Ennoshita. That was literally all he wanted to do. He wanted to sit next to Ennoshita and be in his presence. That’s it.

It was so frustrating that it nearly brought Shouyou to tears, embarrassingly enough. 

**_ ‘E-N-N-O-S-H-I-T-A’ _ ** Shouyou signed angrily,  **_ ‘E-N-N-O-S-H-I-T-A’ _ ** He knew he was probably making all sorts of weird noises that Natsu said he made whenever he got angry without realizing it. She said it sounded like some sort of weird garbled Japanese, except Shouyou was only hitting every other syllable. He could feel something tear through his throat but he just didn’t know what. 

Daichi looked like he didn’t know what to do, hands hovering over Shouyous figure but not touching, unsure, and hesitant. 

Suddenly two fingers tapped at his kneecap, careful to avoid where his uniform was torn and bloody (his mother was going to have a field day sewing it back together).

When Shouyou turned he was met with the ONE person he wanted to see the WHOLE day. 

**_ ‘Hi, Sun.’ _ ** Ennoshita signed with a soft comforting smile on his face. His eyes were lined with worry though, scanning Shouyou over with a searching look.  **_ ‘Do not kill D-A-I-C-H-I. He is the captain. We need him.’ _ **

And just like that, his mood flipped like a switch. Shouyou threw his arms up in the air in pure joy. 

**_ ‘Hi’ _ ** Shouyou signed giddily back, he was probably grinning like an idiot but he didn’t have it in him to care. Sugawara must have slipped away to go snag Ennoshita from practice after he had dropped Shouyous bag off by the door. Shouyou hadn’t noticed. 

**_ ‘No volleyball today. S-U-G-A is finding the Nurse for you.’ _ **

**_ ‘Why?’ _ **

**_ ‘You are hurt.’ _ **

**_ ‘No’ _ **

Shouyou was fine.

**_ ‘You are hurt.’  _ ** Ennoshita signed more insistently 

Shouyou was  _ fine. _

**_ ‘No, I am not’  _ ** Ennoshita frowned at that. 

_ Shouyou was fine. _

Ennoshita looked thoughtful for a moment or two before tapping his knee again to get his attention.  **_ ‘Can I see your art?’ _ **

_ Could  _ he see Shouyous art? He didn’t even know himself. Shouyou wasn’t really sure what happened after maybe the 3rd or 4th round of punches, he doesn’t know if they went through his bag and found his sketchbook, he doesn’t know if his sketchbook was tossed in some dumpster on the other side of town, or if they were leafing through the pages laughing at the stupid drawings in it. 

Just as Shouyou was about to tell Ennoshita that he didn't know, Daichi dropped the sketchbook in his lap. Daichi looked over to Ennoshita hopefully and started to say something that Shouyou didn’t have the energy to read. As he let the silent conversation flow over him he began leaving through the pages. 

Untouched.

Sure, they were crumpled, and maybe the cover was beaten and bruised just like Shouyou but all of his drawings were untouched. He hugged the sketchbook to his chest, glancing up at Daichi with wonder. 

Ennoshita had never said anything about Daichi being kind.

The fingers tapped at his knee again.

**_ ‘D-A-I-C-H-I said it fell out of your bag.’ _ **

Shouyou let a wave of relief wash over him. So the bullies  _ didn’t  _ know about his stupid fantasies that he put on paper? That's a relief. Still, Shouyou doesn't think that he’ll be bringing it back to school any time soon because if this was the beating that he got for being deaf then-

He shuddered to think about the consequences of being ‘queer’ all because he liked to draw pretty girls frolicking in meadows sometimes. 

**_ ‘Thank you.’ _ ** Shouyou signed to Ennoshita, gratitude swelling in his chest, before realizing he was talking to the wrong person. He turned to Daichi.  **_ ‘Thank you!’ _ **

Daichi smiled.

Ennoshita had never said  _ anything  _ about Daichi being  _ kind. _

(When Shouyou asks, later on, Ennoshita looked horrified for a reason that Shouyou couldn’t quite place. He said that he shouldn’t have to say it, because a lot of people are kind. Shouyou had laughed at him.  _ Sure,  _ and pigs could  _ fly.) _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading :D, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF I MADE ANY MISTAKES TO THE DEAF COMMUNITY!! I want to represent the community, not patronize or appropriate it. Thanks for the support! <3 Have a good day.


	3. He believes in me

Hinata Shouyou loved the gym.

He liked the vibrations that he felt beneath his body, he liked the soundless stunts of power that the players pulled on the court, and how each and every one sent a roll of tremors under his feet. The smell of sweat and freshly waxed gym floors infiltrated his senses and _woah,_ this was _so_ much better than watching one of the volleyball plays that Ennoshita had saved on his phone.

Daichi waved his hand around and shouted something into his cupped hands. Ennoshita and the rest of the boys jogged over to where Shouyou was sitting. On the floor. Ennoshita had insisted on him sitting on the bench since his insides had just been turned into Shouyou-Soup less than two hours ago, but there had been a pretty older girl sitting on the bench already and she looked like she could kill him so-

Shouyou opted for plopping down on the floor beside it (despite Ennoshita protests)

**_‘You are very good!’_ ** Shouyou signed giddily. Despite what Ennoshita had said, he _was_ really good. Ennoshita frantically waved his hands at Shouyous compliment, looking frazzled and flustered. 

**_‘No!’_ **

**_‘Yes!’_ **Shouyou argued back.

**_‘Yes!’_ ** Sugawara appeared out of nowhere, ruffling Ennoshitas hair with a grin. He looked down at Shouyou and winked. Shouyou didn’t wink back, but he did give him a smile so small that only the corners of his mouth were pinched. Sugawara looked kind and warm, but Shouyou couldn't judge too soon. He knew the game behind kind smiles already, and Ennoshita hadn’t said anything about Sugawara being kind yet (but to fair Shouyou hadn’t asked yet)

The nurse had given him a bandaid to the cheek and called it a day, so Ennoshita was going to walk him home after school (yay!) since both of Shouyous parents worked and he didn’t dare call to pull them from work.

**_‘Sun is going to try out for the volleyball team.’_ **Ennoshita signed, his body facing Shouyou so he could see his hands, but his head turned toward Sugawara, talking.

_What?_

**_‘No!’_ ** Shouyou panicked, but neither of the boys were looking at him. He reached over and tugged at Sugawara's shoelace because _ouch,_ his whole body ached and he did _not_ have the strength in him to stand up.

**_‘No!’_ ** Shouyou sighed instantly when Sugawara looked down at him with a raised eyebrow. He smiled, nodding his head back down at him.

Shouyou wanted to scream.

**_‘No!’_ ** Shouyou insisted. He was beginning to think that Sugawara didn’t know what instructions were (seriously, first the E-N-N-O-S-H-I-T-A disaster then _this-?!)_

Ennoshita crouched down in front of him and placed a hand on one of his knees. It was a warm, soft touch.

Such a jagged contrast to the type of touch he had been exposed to a meer 2 hours ago.

Shouyou leaned into it, it reminded him of a kind of softness his father could only give him. Something flashed across Ennoshita’s face that Shouyou couldn’t quite place, he gave his knee a squeeze.

**_‘You are good.’_ ** Ennoshita signed steadily, moving himself to plop down in front of Shouyou, he pressed their knees together so that both of his hands were free. He was talking while he signed again, maybe because there were others in the room. Probably. Shouyou’s family did that too.

**_‘You are good,’_ ** He repeated, **_‘But not great. You have a lot of…’_ **He said something with his mouth that Shouyou couldn’t quite place. Sometimes Ennoshita had a hard time placing words in Sign Language.

He had never been the best at reading lips and he’d never taken the time to practice either. He was born completely Deaf, and he didn’t feel like patronizing himself **** while he tried to learn how to speak Japanese (he’d never even heard a sound in his entire _life)_. He didn’t want to be mocked more than he already was for just existing.

**_‘You have a lot of potential.’_ ** Ennoshita finished. **_‘We need players.’_ **

**_‘I do not play volleyball.’_ **

**_‘Yes, you do.’_ ** Ennoshita pressed. Sugawara was crouching beside Ennoshita now and even Daichi had taken to standing behind Ennoshita. What a fun little peer pressure party they were having. 

**_‘You are Deaf-’_ ** Ennoshita tried.

Shouyou blanched. _Really?!_ No _freaking way-_

Sugawara flicked Ennoshita on the side of his head and opened his mouth to say something.

**_‘-You are Deaf, but not useless.’_ **

...Huh?

Ennoshita continued, **_‘You can do anything that we can do.’_ ** The hand back on Shouyous knee, **_‘You have to believe in yourself.’_ **

He… he believes in me.

Ennoshita’s smile was warm but his eyes betrayed that warmth, they were laced with something steely and gray, they were laced with determination. 

He believes in me.

**_‘You will earn your place on the team like everybody else,’_ **

Not useless.

**_‘You will learn just like everybody else,’_ **

Not pitiful.

**_‘And you will play just like everyone else.’_ **

He _believes in me-_

Shouyou felt warmth prickle behind his eyes, so he took one deep breath, two, three, and willed the warmth to fall back into whatever garbage corner of his garbage brain that it came from.

Ennoshita tightened his grip on Shouyous knee.

**_‘You are capable. You are not useless. You are human. You are not anything less.’_ **Ennoshita wasn’t mouthing the words out anymore, just signing. Shouyou hoped it was because the words were just meant for him and him only. Because that meant that Ennoshita meant it with all his heart. 

Shouyou _wanted_ for Ennoshita to mean it with all his heart.

**_‘Do you want to play volleyball?’_ **

…

(Shouyou melted away into gray momentarily when he remembered the first time that Ennoshita had ever asked him that question.)

...

(Shouyou wiped at his eyes. He didn’t know when he started crying.)

...

(He believes in me. He believes in me. He believes in me. He _believes in me-)_

_Yes._ **_‘Yes.’_ **

And this time Shouyou meant it, with every fiber in his body.

**_‘Then you will play volleyball.’_ **

\--

Ennoshita was carrying Shouyou on his back, despite his protests.

They didn’t live near each other at all, but Ennoshita definitely lived closer to him than Aliyah did (his heart ached when he thought about how her first day back must’ve been. She hadn't responded to any of his texts at all for the day. It worried him.)

Ennoshita was warm. He radiated a different type of warmth and kindness, the type of warmth that Shouyou craved, Ennoshita’s skin burned against his own from where Shouyou had his cheek smushed up against his neck. 

One part of him wanted to pull away, while the other part of him craved to have that contact, craved to be comforted by Ennoshitas touch.

_(He believes in me)_

Whatever. He had just been pulverized. Shouyou let himself sink into Ennoshita's back.

Ennoshitas hands felt like they were searing his skin, the warmth was cutting through his school uniform like it was nothing.

Ennoshita tapped twice at Shouyous leg, he looked up.

The sky was clear tonight. Sprinkled with twinkling stars that Shouyou desperately wanted to reach out and capture in his between his fingers. He wished that they could stop for a moment just so he could take a picture. It would be a lovely thing to put on paper.

Ennoshita tapped his leg again and _oh-_ they were already home.

Ennoshita gently eased him back to the ground, careful not to jostle him too much and Shouyou got a good look at him for the first time since they left Karasuno’s school grounds. He looked weary and tired but still turned to give Shouyou a wrung out smile.

_(He believes in me)_

Shouyou snatched his wrist into his grip and led him into his house. 

He must be exhausted, from both volleyball practice _and_ carrying Shouyou all the way out to the mountainside.

Ennoshita didn’t resist, when the warm light of Shouyou’s house draped over him and, _wow,_ he looked like he was 10 seconds from collapsing face-first onto the floor.

Ennoshita hadn’t bothered to change out of his uniform, his knee pads were still on as were his clothes that had the tangy smell of sweat and salt clinging to them. His hair was pushed back was messy compared to how he usually wore it, it must have been sticking to his forehead during practice. 

(Shouyou didn’t know, he was too busy drawing little cartoon flowers in a pile of dust after he had a stupid breakdown in the middle of their practice)

Daichi had made everyone run extra _extra_ laps because two of the new first years had almost gotten into a fight (the skinny blond and the scary one). Now that Shouyou _had_ been paying attention too, mostly because Daichi had looked really scary and Ennoshita had scurried over to where Shouyou was in a frenzy to escape his wrath. The Daichi-wrath.

**_‘I can not stay.’_ ** Ennoshita signed with an uncharacteristic shaking wrist. **_‘We have school in the morning.’_ **

**_‘We can walk together.’_ ** Shouyou countered, before ducking down to unlace Ennoshitas shoes after kicking off his own. Ennoshita was definitely out his loop (the one with neat things and tidy notes and good grades and cats) because he hadn’t even tried to shoo Shouyou away as he helped him slip off his shoes. 

When Shouyou stood back up, Ennoshita was looking past him with a moving mouth. Shouyou turned.

**_‘Hi, Dad.’_ **

His dad came forward to pull Shouyou into a hug, faltering only momentarily when he ran his eyes down his figure. He smelled like stale coffee and the hair gel he used on his hair in the mornings. His touch was calloused and rough yet it still was enough to make Shouyou cling to every last bit of warmth when his father pulled back.

Shouyous father had hazel eyes and mousy brown curls that he kept tame in a slick-back gel style. He had freckles blotched in every crevice of his skin, Shouyou liked to connect them into constellations sometimes. 

Shouyou only ever got the same smattering freckles when he was allowed outside during the warmer months without any fear of getting his face bashed in.

Shouyou hadn’t seen freckles on his skin in a long time.

His dad raked his eyes down Shouyous frame, probably taking in the extent of his injuries because he was stupid and weak and couldn’t ever fend for himself. Shouyou let him, there was no use in hiding them now. Shouyou usually got home earlier, but now that was officially a part of the Karasuno Volleyball Team (They were _really_ desperate for new members. Shouyous ‘tryouts’ was just Ennoshita describing Shouyous skillset to Daichi and Daichi, in turn, giving him a thumbs up and a grin. Ha.) he'd be forced to keep the tub of supplies from under his bed and his extra uniform in his locker. Hiding his injuries would be a tad more complicated this year.

**_‘I fell down the steps at school.’_ ** Shouyou explained, **_‘There were a lot of kids, I could not focus.’_ **

His dad frowned at that before running his knuckles along the side of his face, the side that the nurse slapped a bandage on. **_‘Be careful please.’_ **

**_‘I will.’_ ** Shouyou promised before waving his arm in the general direction of Ennoshita. **_‘Cat is tired.’_ **

His dad turned to Ennoshita with furrowed brows, he teetered dangerously to the side momentarily before catching himself with stumbling feet. Shouyou gave him a pair of slippers from the basket beside the doorway and latched onto his wrist again.

Natsu was supposed to be asleep by now but he could see her peeking out from the doorway with a finger to her lips; _Shh!_

**_'G-r-e-m-l-i-n.'_ ** He signed quickly and discretely, out of view from his father. She grinned and scurried back inside of her room. She'd probably be sneaking into his room later tonight so she could watch K-Dramas on his phone.

Shouyou sat Ennoshita at the rickety dining table and went to serve him some food. They were having cabbage stew (except it was mostly just that: cabbage and broth), his mother had pre-prepared it last night before she left for work.

**_‘Thank you for the food, but I can not stay’_ **

Shouyou frowned, pushing his own bowl away from him.

**_‘We go to the same school. We can walk together.’_ **

**_‘My clothes are dirty.’_ **

**_‘We will wash them.’_ **

Ennoshita brought up his hands to shoot something back just as quick before shutting down with a frown. _Hah. I win._

Shouyous father suddenly appeared in the room with a pile of fresh clothes in his hand and a towel. Ennoshita staggered over to him and bowed, uncoordinated, and wobbling.

**_‘Thank you for letting me stay in your home.’_ ** He signed and yelled out at the same time. (well, Shouyou assumed he yelled anyways because his father looked bewildered and out of place. Ennoshita was awkward like that. He seemed to never know what to do in social situations. Ever. Seriously, Shouyou was more socially coordinated than the guy, and 90% of the time people couldn't even _understand_ him.)

His father waved it away and said something back that Shouyou couldn’t hear before guiding Ennoshita back into his seat.

It was far from Ennoshita's first time staying the night in the Hinata household, he could practically walk in unannounced and his family wouldn’t bat an eye. Shouyou chalked up his formality to being exhausted.

While Ennoshita was in the shower Shouyou laid out a bunch of blankets and pillows on the floor of his bedroom. His family didn’t have any futons just _lying_ around and Ennoshita refused to let Shouyou sleep on the floor and Shouyou refused to let Ennoshita sleep on the floor and Shouyous bed wasn’t big enough for the two of them without them having to sleep literally on top of each other that Shouyou wasn’t sure if Ennoshita was comfortable with so-

They both slept on the floor.

In a pile of blankets and pillows. 

Perfect.

Shouyou startled when Ennoshita suddenly threw himself down face-first onto the mountain of blankets and pillows. Ennoshita turned his head to the side and gave him a funny look. Shouyou smiled and patted his shoulder gently before laying down beside him on his side.

**_‘Thank you. Goodnight.’_ **Ennoshita signed sloppily, his eyes already falling shut.

**_‘Goodnight.’_ ** Shouyou signed back, but Ennoshita was already asleep.

He pulled a spare blanket over Ennoshita’s frame and watched as the moonlight spilled through his window like honey, illuminating the room with a prim glow. 

It's was a good night to draw. Shouyou stared as the pale light melted over Ennoshitas frame like butter, how it turned his face soft and smooth on one side, then cast his face in rigid dark shadows on the other. 

It was a good night to draw.

_(He believes in me)_


	4. Meet the team

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shouyou gets introduced to the team, Kageyama is scary as frick, and Ennoshita gives great hugs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNINGS  
> -self-deprecating thoughts=  
> -talk of past physical assault/bullying

Daichi’s hand clapped on his shoulder with more force than was _ever_ deemed necessary and Shouyou’s entire posture nearly went down with it. 

**_‘This is our new team-mate, H-I-N-A-T-A.’_ **Ennoshita was standing in a line along with the rest of the other members of the team, translating to him what Daichi was saying behind him.

It had been an entire week since Shouyou had his insides turned to mush. He had been banned from stepping foot in the gymnasium since then to _‘not jostle’_ his _injuries_ too much so he could _‘heal’_.

Sure.

And Shouyou most _definitely_ wasn’t jostling his injuries too much when he was sprinting like a madman across the courtyard trying to avoid getting beat into next week.

(In fact, Shouyou had _new_ injuries already)

**_‘He is Deaf, as a team, we need to learn JSL together.’_ ** Ennoshita signed. **_‘We are a team and H-I-N-A-T-A will not be treated-’_ ** Shouyou tried to stay focused on Ennoshita’s hands, but out of the corner of his eye, he could see the others' reactions. He cringed when his eyes locked with the scary-looking boy was who was scowling back at him. _Yeesh._

He quickly snapped his attention back to Ennoshita who was still translating things that Shouyou didn’t have the focus to pay attention to. Shouyou signed with one of the hands glued to his side. **_‘H-E-L-P’_ ** Shouyou pleaded stiffly, Ennoshita just grinned back at him.

Daichi suddenly clapped him on the shoulder ( _Again-)_ and the other boys yelled something out before moving to the far side of the gym. Daichi stood off to the sidelines by the net (opposite to where the boys were gathered) and Sugawara had a ball in his grip already, staring readily at Shouyou with a glint in his eye. 

Shouyous stomach twisted up. He definitely should’ve been paying attention.

Ennoshita tapped him on the arm with two fingers to get his attention. He gave him a look that reminded him of his mother. **_‘You should have been paying attention.’_ ** He signed cheekily.

**_‘Sorry. The boys are scary.’_ ** Shouyou shuddered before peeking over his shoulder and _yeah_ if looks could kill he would be dead 10 times over. Briefly, Shouyou was reminded of the 3rd years who hovered behind him after school. Like the boys in his class who prowled after him, ready to pounce as soon as the lunch bell rang.

**_‘His name is K-A-G-E-Y-A-M-A.’_ ** Ennoshita winced, **_‘He is... difficult.’_ ** Shouyou remembered how he looked ready to strangle the tall blond toothpick the last time he’d been in the gym. 

**_‘D-A-I-C-H-I is going to test you. Do not worry. He wants to see how good you are.’_ ** Shouyou shrunk back when he noticed Daichi talking to Sugawara all while staring pointedly at him.

**_‘You will stay with me?’_ **Shouyou asked anxiously, he still didn’t know all the rules to volleyball and he didn’t want to make a fool of himself because of the language barrier.

**_‘Yes! I will translate.’_ ** Ennoshita steered him toward the net, exchanging a couple of words with Daichi along the way. As expected, he was talking and signing at the same time.

**_‘S-U-G-A will-’_ ** Ennoshita stopped with a troubled look on his face, he tapped his chin in thought for a moment. **_‘I do not know how to sign volleyball words.’_ ** Ennoshita frowned. **_‘Sorry.’_ **

_Oh._ Shouyou didn’t know any volleyball words either, (he wasn’t even sure if there were any volleyball words in JSL) his gut twisted up. He was such a _burden_ on everyone.

Two fingers tapped under his chin, he hadn’t realized he had tucked it into his chest. His hands were bunched into his uniform, twisting up the fabric with a coil of guilt in his gut.

**_‘Keep your head up. Pay attention. You will be okay.’_ ** Ennoshita reassured, **_‘S-U-G-A will S-E-R-V-E. You will R-E-C-E-I-V-E. Understand?’_ **

Shouyou swallowed nervously. _No._ **_‘Okay.’_ ** he signed meekly back.

Sugawara walked to the other side of the net after giving Shouyou a thumbs up. **_‘Hi.’_ ** He signed. Shouyou waved back.

Sugawara called something over to Ennoshita and Ennoshita signed back, **_‘Good luck.’_ **He signed it slowly with emphasis on every change in movement.

Suga turned to him excitedly, **_‘Good luck!’_ ** It was sloppy and unpracticed and, _Oh,_ He was trying to learn. He was trying to learn all for Shouyou. **_‘Good luck!’_ ** he signed again, eyebrows furrowed as he tried to get the hand movement just right. It was still really really bad, but somehow it made Shouyous heart swell so much that he almost felt like crying. In front of everyone. _Again-_

**_‘Thank you.’_ ** Shouyou signed back, swallowing back the lump in his throat. Nobody had ever learned sign language for him (well, other than his family), they’d always just turn and walk the other way when they noticed his weird hand movements.

Ennoshita moved to the other side of the court, just behind Sugawara, probably so he could give Shouyou instructions that Sugawara couldn’t. **_‘Ready?’_ ** Ennoshita signed, as Sugawara drew back to set himself up to serve, tension coiling in his body.

_No. Absolutely not._

And then suddenly Sugawara was pitching forward tossing the ball in the air and-

_Holy f-_

The ball was over the net, hurtling toward the space to the right of Shouyou, in a panicked frenzy he sidestepped, crouched low, and braced himself, fumbling over his own feet with unsure hands.

Shouyou felt the impact on his forearms (it hurt. A lot), instead of the ball going up in the air it shot out to the side. He cringed.

Sugawara said something, Ennoshita translated. **_‘Again.’_ **

_Again-!?_ All that Shouyou had ever done with Ennoshita was toss and spike. He’d never _served_ or _received!_

**_‘Ready?’_ ** Shouyou tensed his body. He really did _not_ want a ball to the face.

Sugawara was tossing the ball in the air again, and then it was flying back over the net and-

_Focus Shouyou focus_

The impact made his forearms prickle with needles of pain, but the ball was up in the air, still in bounds, not too close to the met yet not too far, it was _perfect_. 

Without thinking Shouyou ran, braced his feet on the floor, and leaped, soaring in the air like one of those pretty storks he sometimes saw in the river near his house and then- _bam._

The ball drove itself into the floor on the other side of the court, back where it came from.

The moment of glorious freedom had lasted only a moment before Shouyou was brought back to reality with a thunderous landing, the vibrations ran all the up his body, from his toes all the way to the tips of his ears

Both Sugawara and Daichi were staring at him like he’d suddenly sprouted a third head. 

Shouyou’s heart sank. 

Ennoshita had his arms up in the air in… astonishment? Surprise? Had Shouyou really screwed it up that badly that even _Ennoshita_ was at a loss for words? 

Maybe the volleyball thing had been a bad idea after all. Shouyou _knew_ from the beginning that he would never be cut out for the team he _knew_ that, and yet Ennoshita had dragged him onto the team and expected him to succeed and, well, now look at him, staring at Shouyou like he had just seen a ghost or something. Ennoshita had made a fool of himself, all because of Shouyou.

(...Had it really been that _bad?)_

Shouyou shriveled up from the attention, crossing his arms over himself and sweeping his eyes to the side in hopes to avoid confrontation but-

He caught sight of the rest of the team on the other side of the gym, gawking at him just like Sugawara and Daichi were.

_Oh no._

He suddenly became very _very_ aware of every movement in his body and Shouyou decided that he _really_ wanted to go home.

He stared at his shoes, letting his frivolous curls flop over his line of sight. Maybe (just maybe-!), if Shouyou couldn’t see them then they wouldn’t be able to see him.

Hands were suddenly squeezing his shoulders. (Go figures, seriously _,_ the universe couldn’t toss him a bone just this once?)

The hands started shaking Shouyou back and forth frantically and when he looked up _and-_

Ennoshita had his mouth open wide, yelling something at Shouyou that he couldn’t quite hear. Fear sparked in Shouyous gut momentarily (losing a friend, he's losing a friend, he's losing _Ennoshita-)_ before he noticed that Sugawara was right behind Ennoshita with a wicked grin on his face. Daichi had a suspicious look on his face like he was planning something. He kept looking back and forth between the tall scary boy and Shouyou.

Were they ganging up on him? Were they that _angry?_ Oh well, Shouyou hadn’t really expected the kindness to last for long, it never had. They were probably going to use Shouyou as a punching bag for the angry looking kid, maybe Daichi would hold him up while the others hit him. His grip was strong enough anyways, his handshakes just about shook Shouyous entire body.

Ennoshita pulled back suddenly, _here it comes._

Shouyou braced himself for the worst, keeping his body scarily still in case they were the type to get angry whenever he made any sudden movements. Ennoshita put his hands up _and-_!

**_‘Amazing!’_ ** Ennoshita signed.

What.

**_‘Great! Perfect! Wonderful!’_ **

It… _what?_

Ennoshita continued signing a bunch of synonyms with a sparkle in his eye and a big grin on his face. He was repeating the words he was signing with an abnormally opened mouth. Was he...shouting the words? (Who was he kidding, it was Ennoshita, of _course_ he was.)

Well then, it was nice to know that he would _not_ be getting his insides scrambled for the day. What a comforting thought.

Shouyou let his stance relax just the slightest, letting movement flow back into his fingertips to snag at the bottom of his shorts for some sort of self-comfort. He couldn’t let himself go back all the way yet, just in case. _Just in case._

Ennoshita reached out for Shouyou without warning, and he couldn’t help the way he let himself solidify into a lifeless statue again. He counted his breaths, measuring the way his chest moved. His eyes skittishly moved back down to refocus on anywhere that was _not_ Ennoshita.

There was a hesitant, yet gentle touch to his shoulder. Shouyou only looked up when the familiar finger-tips tapped under his chin twice for the second time that day. **_‘You did very good.’_ ** Ennoshita signed, he gave Shouyous shoulder a gentle squeeze. The same looked flashed across his eyes as last week when Shouyou had cried on the gym floor like the pathetic disgusting rat that he is. Shouyou still didn’t know what it meant, but it couldn’t have been bad if it was coming from Ennoshita… right?

Sugawara started talking to Ennoshita as Daichi opened his mouth up wide to shout something across the other side of the gym. Ennoshia nodded at Sugawara firmly before turning back to Shouyou. **_‘Again.’_ ** He signed, **_‘S-U-G-A-W-A-R-A will T-O-S-S, you will S-P-I-K-E.’_ **

Momentarily, Shouyou wondered why Ennoshita was signing the words _‘toss’_ and _‘spike’_ before realizing that he probably didn’t want to use the words in the wrong context to avoid confusion. _Stupid._ JSL was literally Shouyous first and only language and yet Ennoshtia was being smarter about it than him. 

Shouyou did what he was told for the rest of the practice, Ennoshita had translated all of what Daichi and Sugawara were commenting during the mini one-on-one training session. They talked repetitively about his speed and flexibility. Daichi had said that he had a lot of stamina for someone who had never done a sport in their life.

Shouyou almost laughed when Ennoshita had translated that one.

Turns out running for your life four times a day was a really good work out. Good thing Shouyou had been doing it since he was seven.

They also talked about his jumps. A lot. Apparently, Daichi was thinking about pairing him with the angry-looking-guy since Shouyou could _‘Do the impossible.’_

Yeah right. 

When Shouyou had said that Daichi was being dramatic Ennoshita had frowned. **_‘You are fast. You have great reflexes. You jump higher than most people here.’_ ** Ennoshita suddenly grinned, **_‘You are like the ‘L-I-T-T-L-E G-I-A-N-T’_ **

Sugawara perked up when Ennoshita mentioned the name, flashing an ear-splitting grin. **_‘Yes!’_ **he signed, repeating it a couple more times for enthusiasm (that and his vocabulary was probably only, like, 50 words.) 

A couple of other boys around Ennoshita’s age suddenly pounced on him, ruffling his hair and tugging on his clothes with vigor. They were yelling and talking and Ennoshita was smiling (it looked a little grim) and gently pushing their hands off of him. He was always gentle with everybody and everything, he was so kind.

Ennoshita perked up momentarily and turned to talk to Daichi who was on the other side of the gym telling off the first years. Again.

And then suddenly everybody was lining up in the middle of the gym at the silent call of Daichi, Shouyou grabbed onto Ennoshitas shirt and stuck close to him. One of the boys who had been messing up Ennoshitas hair earlier (who looked vaguely like a delinquent) cooed at the two of them. Or at least, Shouyou thinks he was since he was making a tiny ‘o’ with his mouth and had his hands to his cheeks. He pinched at Ennoshita’s cheek (who furrowed his eyebrows in annoyance) with a dramatic swoon before reaching out to Shouyou.

_Oh, Absolutely not-_

Shouyou felt a noise ground itself out his throat as he slunk back from the boy's hand with a twisted up face. He hoped it was a threatening sound.

Both Ennoshita and the delinquent looking kid started laughing. _Frick._

Everyone turned their head to Daichi suddenly as he began talking. Shouyou let his head bob back down his chest, there was no way to pay attention if he didn’t understand him and Ennoshita seemed to be off in his own little world with all of his focus on Daichi. He moved the pads of his fingers in little circles from where his hand was clutching at Ennoshita shirt, it was comforting.

Shouyou was yanked forward by Ennoshita without warning, he felt _another_ sound creep out of his throat. Shouyou could say for sure that _that_ one had not been a threatening noise. It was probably some form of a pathetic whine in response to being caught off guard. Ennoshita tapped his fingers on Shouyous arm and smiled apologetically. 

**_‘Sorry. Pay attention. I will introduce you to the team.’_ ** Ennoshita explained, **_‘Sorry we did not do it at the beginning. We are not very smart’_ **He joked.

Oh. So maybe _that’s_ what Ennoshita was talking to Daichi about when he was getting attacked with questionable displays of affection.

Ennoshita started with the older boys on the far side of the line. **_‘D-A-I-C-H-I.’_ ** Easy. Shouyou already knew him.

**_‘D-A-I-C-H-I.’_ ** Shouyou repeated, even though he already knew his name it was always good to lock in muscle memory when he was addressing different people and their names. _Especially_ when finger-spelling (It was way easier to get letters mixed up than words).

**_‘S-U-G-A-W-A-R-A.’_ ** Ennoshita continued.

**_‘S-U-G-A-W-A-R-A.’_ **

**_‘T-A-N-A-K-A.’_ **Tanaka was a boy around Ennoshita’s age, with a buzz-cut and a toothy looking grin. He kind of looked like a shark (or a delinquent). He was the one who had tried to pinch Shouyou’s cheek.

**_‘T-A-N-A-K-A.’_ **

**_‘N-I-S-H-I-N-O-Y-A.’_ ** The _other_ boy who had jumped Ennoshita. He was grinning back at Shouyou proudly like he's just won something, opening his mouth wide as he talked and- _wait,_ was he… addressing _Shouyou?_

Good grief. Was the whole team going to be this dumb?

Tanaka slapped him on the back of the head and pointed at Shouyou offhandedly while he silently babbled something at him. Nishinoya frowned for a moment, before springing back to life just as before. He stuck out his hand for Shouyou to shake. Shouyou took it precariously.

Close up, Shouyou could see how tall Nishinoya _actually_ was and _ohmygoodness-_

**_‘He is shorter than me!’_ **(HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?!)

Ennoshita folded in half with unheard laughter, his whole body trembling. He wiped at his eyes momentarily before translating what Shouyou said to everyone else. _Traitor!_ , Shouyou thought as the rest of the team broke, crumpling in the same way that Ennoshita did (with various degrees of individuality). Nishinoya gave Shouyou a look that made him cower and scootch a little bit further behind Ennoshita.

Great _,_ he had already made an enemy (not to mention that black-haired kid)

**_‘N-I-S-H-I-N-O-Y-A-’_ ** Shouyou cringed at the way Nishinoya’s eyes stayed locked onto Shouyou.

After Shouyou was introduced to Kinoshita and Narita (some other boys Ennoshita’s age) they had moved onto the group of first years.

**_‘Y-A-M-A-G-U-C-H-I’_ **He was a timid looking boy with freckles just like Shouyous dad and longer tousled hair. He was half-hidden behind the toothpick looking kid, the one who was always getting into fights with the black-haired kid.

**_‘Y-A-M-A-G-U-C-H-I.’_ **

**_‘T-S-U-K-I-S-H-I-M-A.’_ ** _Woah_. That was going to be one of the harder ones to remember.

**_‘T-S-U-S-I-S-H-I-B-A.’_ ** _Frick._

**_‘T-S-U-K-I-S-H-I-M-A.’_ ** Ennoshita signed slower. Oh, _yikes_ , Shouyou butchered the poor guy's name. **_‘I had to practice too.’_ ** he admitted with a reassuring smile.

**_‘T-S-U-K-I-S-H-I-M-A.’_ ** Shouyou repeated, signing it a couple of more times before he felt like he had it really locked into place. When he looked up he saw the kid sneering at him. Tsukishima had blond curly hair and glasses, he was also stupidly tall, basically made out of all arms and legs.

**_‘K-A-G-E-Y-A-M-A’_ **

Kageyama. The kid who had been glaring daggers at him since he stepped foot in the gym. The kid that looked like he could kill him with one fatal blow. The kid that Ennoshita said was a bit ‘difficult’. The kid who was glaring at him right now, with his face twisted up in some form of disgust. The kid who Daichi was sending him off to get all buddy-buddy with for _kicks and giggles._

_Wonderful._

**_‘K-A-G-E-Y-A-M-A’_ ** Shouyou signed, his eyes staying locked on the wall behind the guy.

**_‘K-I-Y-O-K-O.’_ ** Oh, it was the pretty intimidating girl that had been sitting on the bench last week. **_‘She is a…’_ ** Ennoshita tried to grasp the right word, **_‘Helper?’_ ** Maybe she was management or something.

**_‘K-I-Y-O-K-O.’_ **

**_‘T-A-K-E-D-A Sensei.’_ **Ennoshita pointed to a petite looking man with dark curly hair and big curious eyes hidden behind thick lenses. Shouyou doesn’t really know how he could’ve missed him before, then again he had only been in the gym for a grand total of two days. He wondered if he was the coach?

**_‘T-A-K-E-D-A Sensei.’_ **

Ennoshita turned to the rest of the boys and started talking without signing, one of his hands moved to rest on top of Shouyous head. They kept their attention on him, Ennoshita was good at leadership like that. He was good at grabbing attention and keeping it (yet somehow he still tripped over himself whenever someone even _tried_ to compliment him.)

**_‘Sun.’_ ** Ennoshita signed for them, agonizingly slow with careful movement of his hand. **_‘Sun.’_ **he repeated, talking over his own sign-language as he explained something that Shouyou couldn’t hear.

**_‘Sun.’_ ** Ennoshita repeated for the third time.

The other boys tried to do it back this time. It was unsure and unpracticed, like a child's sign language. Sugawara was the first to get it down (unsurprisingly), he had the most sign language practice here out of anyone, he got it down in one try. He beamed while he turned to Shouyou and signed his names a couple of times. Shouyou smiled shyly and nodded the tiniest bit. Sugawara looked like he had just won the lottery for some reason.

Then it was Kageyama, he followed suit shortly after Sugawara, he signed it once, twice, a third time, before looking at Ennoshita for approval. His hand movement was precise and was almost as good as his own. _What the heck?_

Kiyoko and Takeda Sensei were the next people to sign it confidently back, and then the others followed suit (albeit with shaky hands and even sloppier movements)

Shouyous heart swelled when the whole team started signing his name at him, searching for his stamp of approval. **_‘Sun. Sun, Sun. Sun.’_ ** It was almost like a chant, **_‘Sun.’_ ** they repeated, **_‘Sun.’_ **

Shouyou felt something bubble up in his chest as he nodded vigorously in approval with a mushy grin stretched across his face. It almost ached with how wide it was and how long it stayed, the muscles around his mouth were unused to this much movement. They were usually only used when Shouyou was with Ennoshita, or Aliyah, or Natsu. Never at school. 

**_‘Yes!’_ ** Shouyou signed excitedly.

**_‘Yes! Yes, yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!’_ **

Something bubbled out of his chest and came out of his throat, something that almost startled Shouyou because he hadn’t felt that _something_ in a long, long time.

Shouyou was laughing.

His eyes were scrunched up from smiling way too wide and his cheeks were beginning to hurt, but Shouyou was laughing.

It was probably a weird noise but from the way that Ennoshita lit up impossibly bright, it couldn’t have been _too_ repulsive.

**_‘Yes!’_ ** they continued, their hands fumbling but doing their best to copy what Shouyou’s hand did, **_‘Yes!’_ **

\---

They were at Ennoshitas house, freshly showered and pressed up side to side on his couch. Ennoshita had on a movie (with subtitles, of course,) and Shouyou had a notebook balanced on his lap with a pencil clutched tight in his grip. He was supposed to be doing homework but instead of schoolwork, he had a portrait of Ennoshita's mother (who was sitting at the dining room table not so far from them) covering the entire front side of the lined paper.

The practice had ended a little over two hours ago and Ennoshita's house was closer so they decided to crash there. In a couple of hours, Shouyou would have to make the journey home, but for now, he basked in Ennoshita’s presence. 

Ennoshita tapped at the side of Shouyou’s face, he looked up from his lap. **_‘Your S-P-I-K-E-S were awesome.’_ ** He signed with a grin.

**_‘I have seen you jump before. It was way better on the C-O-U-R-T. Awesome.’_ ** Shouyou felt his face heat up and he pushed gently at Ennoshitas arm.

**_‘I still do not know the rules. Or how to do anything else.’_ ** Shouyou countered.

**_‘Awesome.’_ ** Ennoshita signed. Shouyou felt a sigh leave his body. Ennoshita suddenly perked up to where his mother was beckoning him. **_'Excuse me.'_ ** He signed quickly before standing up.

One of the _many_ cats in Ennoshitas house was looking to sit itself in Shouyou’s lap, pushing his notebook off his lap and to the ground with a clatter. 

It was a pretty tortoiseshell feline, with dark eyes just like Ennoshita and the rest of his family. Shouyou checked the collar. _Sakura._ How pretty.

Shouyou felt vibrations against his thigh as he combed his fingers through her thick pelt. _Was she purring?_ He burrowed his fingers further into the cat's pelt, the vibrations rolled through his fingertips and disappeared somewhere within his arm. It was _mesmerizing_.

Shouyou wanted more

He folded himself over the cat, feeling the rumbling vibrations run through his chest. Shouyou tucked his face into the cat, pushing up his face against its fur. He curled around Sakura tighter, the purr was like a hum of life. Vibrations were something that Shouyou depended on on the daily but when it was coming from a living thing, for some reason it made Shouyou want to engulf himself in it.

It made Shouyou want to wrap himself around the sound of Ennoshitas familiar heartbeat, it made him want to press his entire body along the length of the refrigerator. Or, like right now, It made Shouyou want to mush himself up into a cat’s fur until all he could feel was the comforting vibrations emitting from its body.

The cat smelt like dust, coffee, and Ennoshita. It was comforting. He couldn’t help the way his eyes slipped shut as he curled his fingers into the soft fur.

Shouyou didn’t really know how long he stayed there, he only even thought about sitting up when there was another familiar warmth pressing against him, except this one was at his side.

_Probably Ennoshita,_ Shouyou thought as one warm hard splayed across his back and the other tapped gentle two-fingered rhythms to his shoulder. Shouyou let out what he hoped was a content hum slip out of his throat. When Shouyou was tucked away like this into a world of sensory heaven, for some reason the vibrations that came from his chest were... louder? They were more pronounced and traceable. Shouyou liked that.

He hummed short, toneless phrases for a couple of minutes more before (regrettably) untangling himself from the cat. It was rude to ignore someone else in their own house (even if they were your best friend)

Shouyou felt the air suck all the warmth out of his body as soon as he sat up and he couldn’t help the uneven, rocky noise that he felt rip itself out of his chest. He frowned, hugging his knees to his chest in an attempt to regain the warmth back.

**_‘She likes you.’_ ** Ennoshita signed with a fond look on his face. **_‘S-A-K-U-R-A does not let people touch her.’_ **

Shouyou felt a little giddy at that, pressing into the body-warmth against his side with a small smile. Ennoshita curled an arm around his shoulder and kept him close in a side-hug. He pointed to the notebook on the floor that Sakura had kicked off. **_‘My mother.’_ ** Ennoshita noted, **_‘She is beautiful. Can I keep it?’_ ** Shouyou nodded and unfurled himself to bend down and rip the drawing out of his college-ruled notebook. **_‘Thank you. She is beautiful.’_ ** he repeated with awe. Shouyou felt something flutter in his chest at the complement of his art.

**_‘Why don’t you draw in your special book?’_ ** Shouyou’s face twisted up. _Special book?_

Ennoshita laughed at the look on his face. **_‘Do you not bring it with you? Why?’_ **

Shouyou thinks that Ennoshita already knew the answer to that question because as soon as he says it he falters momentarily and a dark look passes through his eyes. 

It was simple, really, Shouyou didn’t want to stand out. Because if he stood out then the bullies would come over and beat him like a pulp. All they needed was one reason to drag him behind the school and Shouyou was not keen on testing them.

(Even without the sketchbook in his bag Shouyou found himself being dragged through the dirt to behind the school but that was something that he wasn’t sure he was ready to admit to himself-)

**_‘I will keep it safe.’_ ** Ennoshita signed suddenly. **_‘I will keep it in my bag. You can draw during practice. And before-school.’_ **

Shouyou blinked at the suggestion. On one hand, he _really_ didn’t want to cause any trouble but on the _other,_ there were just so many things to capture in a day that Shouyou never got to draw and it made his whole body ache with _want_.

The want to hold a pencil in his hand so tight that his wrist cramped up, the want to balance a sketchbook on his lap, the want to recreate life and all things pretty.

…

**_‘Thank you.’_ ** Shouyou signed gratefully, pulling himself into Ennoshita's chest that was almost as comforting as Sakura’s purrs, a hug. Ennoshita wrapped his arms around Shouyou without hesitation and he practically _preened_ at the touch, tucking his head underneath Ennoshitas head and pushing his ear up against his chest hard just to feel his heartbeat thrum underneath his skin.

Maybe it was because Shouyou was desperate for another form of Sakura at the time or maybe it was because he was craving a comforting touch that he was so deprived of daily.

Shouyou got lost in himself, letting his eyes slip close as Ennoshita’s heartbeat pulsed constantly against his skin. He let himself breathe slowly and surely, let himself take in the smell of cats and coffee and old books, all of the smells that Ennoshita had lingering on him.

Let himself be comforted.

Ennoshita rubbed at the base of Shouyous neck with his fingers, Shouyou melted.

He made himself tattoo the feeling in his brain, that Ennoshita was nice and warm, and all things good, not one of the cruel bullies that came for Shouyous neck four times a day. He doesn’t know why he thought Ennoshita would hurt him earlier during practice. How foolish of him.

Ennoshita hummed a little tune, Shouyou could feel the vibrations rolling through Ennoshtias body. 

He clung on impossibly tighter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HI! Since this is not following canon I can understand how some people may be confused. Let me adress a few things thats implied but may not be very clear.
> 
> -Shouyou has a better grasp on key concepts of volleyball because he had Ennoshita training with him during the school year and in the summer
> 
> -The whole Nishinoya thing coming back to the team was in the time that Shouyou was 'banned from the gym' by Daichi and Ennoshita
> 
> -Asahi is coming in soon dont think I forgot about him >:)
> 
> Feel free to leave a comment for questions, concerns, or mistakes in this chapter! Thanks so much <3


	5. Worry.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chikara worries for Hinata.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING  
> -self-deprecating humor  
> -mentions of physical bullying  
> -mentions of poverty

Chikara was worried about Hinata. 

He was well aware that he didn’t need another person treating him like some sort of damsel in distress, but he couldn’t really help himself when it came to things like this.

“You okay?” 

**_ (‘Are you okay?’) _ **

Hinata nodded. He garbled out a weird noise of anger from the back of his throat, glaring at the offending volleyball with irritation.

There wasn’t an ounce of pain in his expression even though Chikara knew for a  _ fact  _ that volleyballs to the head hurt like hell.  _ Especially  _ one that came off of Tanaka’s hand.

“Is he alright?!” Tanaka worried, ducking under the net to their side of the court. Narita voiced his own worry as he and the other second years made their way to where Hinata was as well.

Chikara nodded, “Yeah, he’s okay.”

Hinata was garbling out all those jumbled incomprehensive syllables of anger, shuffling away from the ball in accusation.

Tanaka almost looked like he wanted to laugh at the scene. “...tell him it’s my fault, not the volleyballs.” He joked.

Chikara tapped at Hinata’s arm to get his attention.

“Tanaka said it’s not the volleyball's fault. He’s sorry.”

**_ (‘T-A-N-A-K-A said do not blame the volleyball. He is sorry.’) _ **

Hinata shook his head,  **_ ‘Do not worry. I am okay.’ _ **

Nishinoya bounced up and down, “What’d he say, what’d he say?!” 

“He said not to worry about it and that he’s okay.” Chikara gave Nishinoya a look, “If you really want to know what he’s saying then why don’t you guys actually _ try _ paying attention during the sign language classes that Takeda Sensei signed you guys up for.”

“But they’re so  _ boring-” _ Nishinoya whined.

“Don’t be rude,” Kinoshita grumbled, shoving lightly at Nishinoya's arm. “That’s his first language, shorty.”

“SHORTY?!”

Hinata tugged at his shirt, looking up at him with an owlish look on his face. He was a tiny, scrawny thing, even for first-year standards. It made Chikara worry. Especially when he would come to the Ennoshita household and his eyes just about bugged out of his head at the food presented to him at dinner. Or when Hinata would carefully pick apart his free lunch (courtesy to the school policy on yearly income) and tuck away about half of it in his pocket bag. Or when Chikara would visit after school and dinner would include seasoned water with some sort of cheap vegetable like cabbage thrown in there (Chikara would watch as the Hinatas ate the ‘stew’ graciously and it made his heart _ hurt) _

The Hinata family couldn’t even afford  _ futons.  _ Or volleyball shoes. Or school meal tickets. Or a new uniform that Chikara knew that his friend  _ desperately  _ needed because it was a patchwork of different colored stitches at this point (it made him so  _ so  _ angry when he thought about how the tear’s even got there in the first place).

So, yes, Chikara was going to worry. He was going to worry because he had seen the ‘dinner’ that Hinata ate every night, he had seen how late his parents worked into the night, he had seen what happened when Hinata dilly-dallied around in one spot for too long, he had seen what had happened when the ugly third years had gotten to him before Chikara did, he had seen how high his pain tolerance was, he had seen how desperately he searched for Chikara’s comfort (even if it was subconscious) through soft touches like hugs and hair rufflings-

Chikara had  _ seen, _ he  _ knew  _ things were tight at home, he  _ knew  _ that Hinata was used to getting beat down every day like it was nothing, he  _ knew  _ that he was touch-starved to some degree, he  _ knew  _ that. Chikara  _ knew  _ things.

Hinata tugged harder on his shirt, demanding to know what was going on. He was probably confused, Tanaka and Nishinoya were rough-housing like wild animals while Kinoshita and Narita stood off to the side watching like it was a damn  _ movie  _ or something and Daichi was yelling at the first years. Again. 

Suga was off to the side comforting a frazzled looking Yamaguchi (another first year, albeit more tame and well mannered). Daichi and Suga had used the day's practice to isolate the first year's individual weaknesses, so Karasuno could hopefully mash them together to make something useful. Except Tsukishima and Kageyama had started bickering (again). 

Hinata had been separated to train alongside Chikara and the rest of the second years for two primary reasons, (A) Chikara was fluent in sign language, and (B) Shouyou’s abilities and weaknesses had already been thoroughly wrung out through the individual training session from the beginning of the week. Daichi still wanted to put him together with Kageyama, but Chikara wasn’t sure that was the best idea. Yes, their strengths complemented each other's weaknesses from just outside observation  _ alone, _ but… Kageyama had a wall of glass around him that even  _ Suga _ hadn’t managed to see through clearly. 

Kageyama was stubborn, prideful, and had a sharp attitude, it was difficult to try to have him work with someone. He had  _ so  _ much potential… but if he didn’t fix his attitude problem soon, they’d have to kick him off the team. Daichi had talked about it more than once. Chikara didn’t like the idea of kicking Kageyama off the team without understanding him first but he couldn’t blame Daichi either, they were running out of options.

“Geez. These first-years are a real handful, huh, Ennoshita?” Narita whistled lowly as Kageyama went in to try to murder Tsukishima with his bare hands a second time. Hinata let out a distressed noise and gave up trying to get his attention, instead opting for dramatically dropping his forehead into Chikara’s side in defeat.

“Yeah,” He agreed numbly, patting Hinata’s head with one hand in apology. He hated how Hinata’s head followed his hand whenever it was lifted from his head. He opted for just resting his hand in the nest of curls instead. Hinata pressed up into it and tightened the grip on his shirt. 

“It’s been two weeks and we’re still trying to figure where the hell to place these first-years.” Chikara sighed. Week one on the team had been all volleyball conditioning and team-building exercises. Chikara hated to say it, but they were  _ such  _ a waste of time when Tsukishima couldn’t seem to keep his snarky mouth shut and Kageyama couldn’t seem to stop trying to commit murder on the daily. When Hinata had asked what he missed during the first week Ennoshita had laughed and said,  _ ‘Nothing.’ _

Maybe they were spending a little too much time trying to figure out every single aspect of the first-years playing ability, but to be quite frank, they were going to have to place the first-years in a way that filled the gaping hole that Asahi had made when he left the Karasuno Volleyball Team. Nishinoya was still working on dragging him back.

“Hey!” Nishinoya piped up suddenly. “I heard Takeda Sensei is trying to get us a new coach!” He pumped a fist in the air. 

“Bro, no way!” Tanaka grinned ear to ear.

“You’re kidding-!” Hinata jostled at the movement of Chikara getting a little  _ too  _ excited and Chikara felt his head lift off of his side. “That’s amazing, I wonder who he’s trying to contact…?”

The others murmured in agreement, beginning to shoot off theories.

Narita shrugged, “Well whoever it is, I’m sure they’ll do great, besides-”

Something suddenly jabbed painfully at Chikara's side.  _ “Ow-!” _

**_ ‘Tell me!’ _ ** Hinata demanded, with his face screwed up in frustration. He was always so expressive. He grabbed some of Chikara's uniform and tugged at it desperately,  **_ ‘Tell me please!’ _ **

“Oi!” Tanaka laughed 

“What’s he saying, what's he saying?!” Nishinoya asked, except Nishinoya was always so unnecessarily energetic so it came out more as _ ‘whatshesayingwhatshesaying?!’  _ Jeez. Chikara didn’t know how many times he’d have to tell the guy to stop mumbling his words because nobody will understand what he’s saying and-

“Ah, he wants to know what's going on,” Chikara rubbed at the back of his neck and smiled sheepishly at Hinata, “He doesn’t understand what’s happening. I may have been a little distracted when we were chatting…” he trailed off with a chuckle

You couldn’t exactly  _ blame  _ him, they had already been through the mess of getting Nishinoya back but they still didn’t have their Ace  _ or  _ a coach. They were a rag-tag volleyball team that was sure to get eaten alive once the season started up again. At least a coach would make their team seem a little  _ less  _ pathetic. 

Nishinoya barked out a boisterous laugh and ruffled Hinata’s hair vigorously. Hinata flinched on contact. “Don’t worry tiny little Kohai! Nishinoya and Tanaka Senpai would  _ never  _ forget about you!” Tanaka nodded vigorously in agreement before stopped with a dumb look on his face.

Hinata was as stiff as a board under Nishinoya's hold, his face blank and his body scarily still, like he was holding his breath in anticipation. 

“Stupid! He’s Deaf! He doesn’t know what you're saying!” Tanaka swatted at Nishinoya. He looked confused for a second before a look dawned on his face. 

“You’re totally right!” Nishinoya let go of his grip on Hinata as he slapped the sides of his face with realization. Almost immediately Hinata darted back to where Chikara was, he tucked himself neatly back into his side. Chikara buried his fingers back into his curls for some sort of comfort.

Tanaka and Nishinoya began rough-housing again and Hinata turned his face into Chikara’s uniform in discomfort.

“Sorry.” He murmured softly like Hinata could hear him or something. Chikara hated this. Not the fact that Hinata was Deaf, he’d never hate  _ anybody  _ for that. He hated the way Hinata was treated _ because _ he was Deaf. He hated how he braced himself for every touch, or how he flinched whenever someone got a little too close for comfort. 

Chikara noticed things. Just like how he noticed how Mrs.Hinata took every extra-shift that was handed to her, or how Natsu would do her times-tables with pencils that Chikara knew for a  _ fact  _ Hinata had swiped off the clubroom floor.

_ “OI!” _ Daichi bellowed, suddenly materializing out of nowhere. “Quit messing around over there you two! I swear you’re worse than the first years sometimes...”

“That's a pretty low-bar to set there Mr. Captain Sir.” Nishinoya bowed his head in a fake apology. Tanaka rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. Daichi deflated at the mention of the first years.

“I’m worried. If they can’t pull their act together then we’re going to have to cut them.”  _ Ah,  _ there it was again. The threat to cut the first-years off the team.

_ “They?” _ Chikara raised an eyebrow. He looked past Daichi‘s shoulder only to see Sugawara frantically trying to calm Kageyama down. The rest of the heads turned the same direction simultaneously.

Kageyama's face looked a little red, somebody must’ve clocked him in the face with a ball, and by someone Chikara meant Yamaguchi. The poor kid looked like he was afraid for his life from the way he was trying to camouflage himself behind the walking beanstalk. Tsukishima and Yamaguchi had a strange dynamic. Chikara didn’t know what to think of it yet.

Daichi dragged a hand over his face before choosing to ignore the scene and turning his back to it. “Okay, fine. If  _ Kageyama  _ can’t pull his act together then I’m going to have to cut him.”

Tanaka furrowed his brow, “You’re joking-! Kageyama has got some wicked moves up his sleeve, he could practically save the team singlehandedly. I wonder why he chose Karasuno of all places.”

“Who knows,” Narita mumbled. 

“Don’t say that. He’s not our only setter here. Suga knows how every single one of our moves by heart.”

“I’m saying for next year though, Daichi.” Tanaka look troubled, “When Ennoshita’s captain will there even be an  _ option  _ to handpick a setter? Or are we going to have to train some kid from the ground up?”

Tanaka was right. Unless they somehow got lucky enough to get another setter to try out next year then-

Wait. Captain?  _ Him? _

Hold up-

“Woah-” Chikara recoiled, “When  _ I’m  _ captain? Absolutely not.”

_ Ungrateful second year. Chikara left he left he left he left, he abandoned his team like they were nothing- _

“Why do you act so surprised?!” Nishinoya looked personally offended for some reason. “You’re a natural-born leader. Look how the red-head follows you like a lost puppy all the time!”

“Okay, first of all, this red-heads name is  _ Hinata-”  _ He tapped at his friend's arm to get him to look up. He did just that, though looking more bewildered than dignified. “Second of all, I was his friend before he even stepped foot in this gym! And I’m the only one who knows sign language since you two won’t even bother staying conscious for even  _ half  _ the time in those sign-language classes. Let alone your real classes, which, by the way, I know for a fact that you’re both flunking out of and-”

Chikara slapped a hand over his mouth. Nishinoya and Tanaka were both giving him stupidly smug looks and Daichi was leveling him down with a stare. Narita gave him a sympathetic look.

“Oh my god I just scolded you like-” Chikara snapped his jaw shut with a click. How humiliating. 

“Like  _ Daichi, _ perhaps,  _ Suga?” _

“Shut up Nishinoya!” 

“Never!” He cackled wildly. 

Hinata poked his side angrily. Right.  **_ ‘Tell me.’  _ ** He demanded (again).

Before Chikara could even get his hands up, Daichi brightened suddenly. “Ah, Ennoshita! Would you translate this for me please?”

“Sure.” Hinata's eyes were already on Daichi, he had probably been observing the conversation and noticed when Daichi started staring at him. 

“Hello Hinata, how are you liking the volleyball team so far?”

**_ ‘Hello Sun, do you like the volleyball team?’ _ **

**_ ‘Hi. Yes-’  _ ** Hinata started.

Daichi blinked, “Oh, well, I don’t think you need to translate  _ that,  _ it’s easy enough-”

**_ ‘-How do I respond to that? I cannot say no.’  _ ** He continued, smiling at Daichi like he wasn’t sassing him right in front of his face.

“Uh… nevermind…” Daichi said meekly, looking completely lost.

**_ ‘What if I say: Hi, I hate it here? Now what?’  _ ** Chikara struggled to keep his face neutral. **_ ‘He is stupid.’  _ ** Chikara snorted and quickly covered it up with a cough when five pairs of eyes landed on him. They were not convinced by the looks of it.  **_ ‘You are stupid.’ _ ** Hinata signed to Daichi.

“Is he… Is he done?” Daichi asked.

“He says hello back to everyone. He likes the team, he uh… just…” Chikara floundered for a made-up story, “Thinks the other first years are scary.”

“Ah, I see. Well, scary or not he’s going to have to learn how to work with them. Specifically Kageyama, I want to see the two of them on the court together.”

“How are you gonna get Kageyama to toss to him?” Nishinoya asked, “He’s too damn prideful for his own good.” Kinoshita mumbled in agreement.

He frowned at that. That's right… getting them to work together was one thing but getting Kageyama to agree to do it was another. 

“What are we going to do, force him?” Chikara muttered with a frown.

“Yes,” Daichi said 

_ “What?!” _

“You’ve got to be joking Daichi-”

“Now how are you going to do that?”

“Daichi…”

“Oh! Is it going to be with blackmail?” Tanaka with Nishinoya looked far too excited at the suggestion. Honestly, Chikara was worried about the pair of them.

_ “No.”  _ Daichi shut them down immediately with a look on his face, “Either he works with Hinata or he's benched the whole year.”

“Daichi…” Narita started, looking worried. “He’s a good player, I know we already have Suga but we could use someone like him on the team regardless. He could still be a middle-blocker with that height.”

(“That's what  _ I  _ said!” Tanaka shouted)

“You’re right-”

(“ _ Oi,  _ why’d you listen to him but not me-!”)

“S-So that’s why we just have to hope that he’s as much as brat as we think he is.” Daichi tried his best to look confident, but they all heard it.

_ He stuttered. _

“Oh boy.” Kinoshita sighed.

\--

Shouyou wasn’t really sure what the heck was going on. First Ennoshita ignored him for half the practice while everyone was talking, then Daichi said something to Kageyama that made him look like he was going to slaughter Shouyou with just his eyes alone, and now Kageyama (the scariest first-year ever to exist) was thrusting his phone into Shouyou’s face.  _ And  _ Ennoshita was waiting for him outside the club room already, so if Shouyou was killed then  _ nobody would know. _

On the screen was an incomplete contact information sheet. 

_ What…? _

When Shouyou glanced up for confirmation that ‘yes he wants me to put my contact in his phone’ he was met with cold, unyielding  _ fury. _ It was like the guy was physically restraining himself from unleashing all hell on him.

Shouyou gulped and took the phone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I know I've put mentions in the previous chapters hinting that Shouyou lives in a house where the money is tight, but I decided to delve into it this chapter. So if anyone even picked up any of those hints then ahem.. you are correct! I also decided it would be good to put in an outside perspective ecspecially since writing a Deaf character can limit the amount of interaction you see with other charcaters. Hope you liked how I decided to write Kinnoshita and Narita haha because I have NO idea what the heck their personalities are.
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading. Have a good night :D Let me know if there's any mistakes! Feel free to leave critism, prompts, and suggestions <3


	6. Grateful

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shouyou is grateful and also learns that maybe Kageyama isn't as bad as he thought he was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good morning! It's about 8 AM where I am, haha.
> 
> TRIGGER WARNING:  
> -talk of poverty  
> -talk of physical bullying  
> -talk of starvation/hunger  
> -self-deprecating thoughts

** NAME: HINATA **

** COMPANY: **

** MOBILE: (XXX-XXX-XXX) **

** EMAIL:  **

Shouyou held the phone back out to Kageyama. He snatched it out of his grasp impatiently before spinning on his heel and storming off.  _ Geez. _

Shouyou wondered why Kageyama of all people would want to get his contact info.

**_ ‘What happened?’ _ ** Ennoshita asked as soon as Shouyou was in view, he looked concerned.  **_ ‘I saw K-A-G-E-Y-A-M-A leave. He was angry!’ _ **

**_ ‘K-A-G-E-Y-A-M-A wanted my number,’  _ ** Shouyou signed, worrying at his lip.  **_ ‘I do not know why.’ _ **

Ennoshita rubbed at the back of his neck,  **_ ‘I think it was D-A-I-C-H-I-’ _ **

**_ ‘Stupid.’ _ **

**_ ‘Sun! Let me finish!’  _ ** Ennoshita was laughing. Shouyou was glad. His smile was nice.  **_ ‘I think it was D-A-I-C-H-I. He was talking about you and K-A-G-E-Y-A-M-A working together again.’ _ **

_ Oh.  _ Shouyou made an ‘o’ shape with his mouth,  **_ ‘That is what you were talking about during practice?’ _ **

**_ ‘Yes. Sorry for not translating.’ _ **

**_ ‘Do not worry.’  _ ** Shouyou signed,  **_ ‘Will you be there? Will you translate?’ _ **

Ennoshita shook his head apologetically,  **_ ‘The team needs to know how to talk to you without me.’  _ **

As they were stepping off of school grounds, Shouyou felt his phone humming against his leg. Ennoshita glanced over at him.  _ Uh-oh,  _ was his ringer on? That might explain why people were looking at him during class today (more than usual, anyway.)

Shouyou wonder’s why the translator didn’t say anything but he also supposes it’s not his job. Shouyou’s translator’s name was Makoto Sensei. He was a kind enough man but far too skinny and sluggish like he hadn’t had a proper night's rest in the last 27 years. Sometimes, Shouyou worried for him (even though he’d never talked to him outside of class)

**_ ‘You can hear it?’ _ ** Shouyou asked

**_ ‘Yes. It is a bell. It is loud.’ _ ** Ennoshita shrugged,  **_ ‘Has it been on the whole day?’ _ **

**_ ‘Yes. I think so.’  _ ** Shouyou quickly fumbled for his phone to turn it on vibrate.  **_ ‘Embarrassing.’  _ ** He cringed at the thought of how many times he’d felt it go off during classes.  _ Frick. _

**_ ‘Yes!’  _ ** Ennoshita agreed, laughing again.  **_ ‘Who is it? K-A-G-E-Y-A-M-A?’ _ **

Oh. Shouyou had forgotten to check the notification while he was trying to comprehend the disturbing fact that his phone had been going off all day. He opened the message.

** FROM: UNKNOWN NUMBER (6:51pm):  **

** Meet me at school an hour before practice starts tomorrow. **

Shouyou blinked.  _ Why? _

** TO: UNKNOWN NUMBER **

** FROM: YOU (6:54pm): **

** Why? **

Two fingers tapped at his arm. Right. Ennoshita. 

**_ ‘K-A-G-E-Y-A-M-A?’ _ **

Shouyou nodded, turning the screen so Ennoshita could see. He leaned forward and put a finger to his chin, his eyebrows were furrowed.  **_ ‘Rude.’  _ ** Ennoshita decided, before ruffling Shouyous hair and waving him forward. Shouyou didn’t remember when he’d stopped walking. 

** FROM: UNKNOWN NUMBER (6:57pm): **

** To practice dumbass.  **

Shouyou puffed out his cheeks and felt his throat vibrate. He must have made a weird noise because Ennoshita turned to him with an amused look on his face. 

** FROM: UNKNOWN NUMBER (6:58pm): **

** Be there. **

Shouyou felt another noise slip out of him (he couldn’t _ help  _ it! He was upset.) This time Ennoshita took the phone from him. His face twisted up.  **_ ‘Rude’ _ ** He signed again, **_ ‘He should be nice.’ _ **

**_ ‘Yes! Rude.’ _ **

** TO: UNKNOWN NUMBER **

** FROM: YOU (7:01pm): **

** Dummy. **

Shouyou hit send and snapped his phone shut.  _ Ah,  _ the satisfaction of delivering insults. 

Of course, it wouldn't last long since presumably by the time Shouyou actually  _ got  _ to school he would be dead meat. Considering that, well, Kageyama seemed like the type of guy that would beat the living daylights out of Shouyou without any remorse. 

Just as he was beginning to feel sick with regret, Ennoshita tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention again.

**_ ‘Are you hungry?’  _ ** He asked, pointing toward a local convenience store.  **_ ‘We can get food.’ _ **

Shouyou felt his stomach cave at the mention of food. He swallowed back the saliva pooling underneath his tongue as the sick nausea of hunger set back in. The lunch the school had provided had been mostly pre-packaged today, he had stored it away for Natsu. All he had really gotten to eat was some white rice (the only thing _ not  _ pre-packaged on his tray) and a box of milk that Tanaka had bought him in the morning before practice. 

He had already taken enough money from his friends (was Tanaka-Senpai a friend-?) today, he could manage just fine on his own, thank you very much. 

Shouyou felt his stomach churn again as he stared back at Ennoshita. He swallowed back nausea, the saliva, the cruel pang of  _ hunger,  _ and… managed. Just as he did before. He took a breath and composed himself enough to smile appreciatively. 

Just as he was about to bring his hands up to sign, Ennoshita beat him to the punch. He had decided for him evidentially.  **_ ‘I am hungry. Let’s go.’ _ ** he sighed quickly before grabbing onto Shouyous wrist and leading them to the convenience store. 

Ennoshita bought 10 beat buns, way too much for the two of them alone, but he still smiled and kept piling them into Shouyou’s hand as soon as he had finished one. 

The bread was soft and warm, melting in Shouyous mouth as soon as it touched his tongue. And the  _ meat…  _ don’t even get Shouyou started on the  _ meat.  _ (He hadn’t had beef in  _ so long…) _

Ennoshita smiled at him behind a half-eaten meat bun as they sat on the curb underneath the flickering lights of the trashy convenience store.

**_ ‘Thank you.’ _ ** Shouyou signed over and over again because  _ jeez,  _ Ennoshita is just as broke and needy as every other high school student, but every time Shouyou thanked him Ennoshita waved him off.

**_ ‘Always,’  _ ** He would sign, even as Shouyou was trying and failing not to tear through another meat bun like some homeless mutt on the street,  **_ ‘Always.’ _ **

\--

As soon as Shouyou was in view of the gym, he saw Kageyama there, waiting for him impatiently with an angry look on his face. His uniform was already on and he had a volleyball in his hands. He must have been waiting there a while.

Kageyama opened his mouth to say something with an ugly look on his face that Shouyou couldn’t hear. Shouyou frowned at him.  _ Really?  _ He pointed to his ears.

Kageyama looked like he wanted to bite his head off but instead, he marched back into the gym and came back out with his phone.  _ Huh _ . Shouyou had never had anyone try to text him for communication before.

Shouyou did the same, flipping his phone open and waiting patiently. He was glad that Kageyama had figured something out with that pea-sized brain of his, but at the same time, he found himself almost disappointed.

** UNKNOWN NUMBER is typing... **

He really didn’t want to be here. First of all, it was  _ five in the morning,  _ ugh, he already hated getting up for morning practices, to begin with, but  _ this?  _ Absolutely not.

Secondly, he  _ hated  _ getting jumped in the early mornings, it made the rest of the day harder to function. Shouyou knew he really didn’t have a choice, but he preferred after school. That way, he was able to recharge for the next day when it inevitably happened again.

Ever since he joined the Karasuno Volleyball Club though, Shouyou hadn’t really been touched at all outside of classes. Maybe it was because he was always getting pulled away by one of his upperclassmen as a ‘personal escort’ or something to the club-room. Shouyou didn’t know.

(Of course, that didn’t stop the paper-stealing, book-dumping, pencil-poking, stray hand-throwing, and misplaced-kicks  _ during  _ class, but it did help him out when he wasn’t being beaten into a pulp twice a day)

He had never seen Kageyama  _ actually  _ beat up someone before but Shouyou had made sure to layer up an extra  _ extra  _ sweater under his uniform just in case.

** FROM: UNKNOWN NUMBER (5:11am): **

** You’re late. **

Shouyou blinked.

** TO: UNKNOWN NUMBER **

** FROM: YOU (5:11am): **

** I walk. Sorry. **

** FROM: UNKNOWN NUMBER (5:12am): **

** Then leave earlier dumbass. Hurry up and get changed. I’ll meet you in the gym. **

So Shouyou did, and when he stepped foot in the gym Kageyama was waiting for him just as he promised. What Shouyou  _ hadn’t  _ expected was Tanaka to be standing there next to Kageyama. He had his phone out too and brightened when he saw Shouyou. Kageyama must’ve introduced him to the new line of communication, he supposes. 

Shouyou opened his phone back up. There was a notification from two different  ** ‘UNKNOWN NUMBER’ ** s now. Shouyou immediately added Tanaka into his contact list.

** FROM: TANAKA (5:18am): **

** What's up little Kouhai! I’ll be monitoring you guys while you practice. Keep your phone handy because I'm not as smart as ennoshita HAHAHA! **

** FROM: UNKNOWN NUMBER (5:17AM): **

** Hurry up. I’ll set, you’ll spike. **

_ Rude! _

** TO: TANAKA **

** FROM: YOU (5:19AM) **

** Good morning! I know it's really early and you're probably tired :( So thank you for monitoring us ^_^ **

Shouyou answered Kageyama next.

** TO: UNKNOWN NUMBER **

** FROM: YOU (5:19AM) **

** k. **

_ Dummy. _

He shut his phone and set it next to the guidelines where Tanaka was standing. Tanaka ruffled his hair. Shouyou let a content vibration slip from his throat.

Kageyama was all  _ quick, quick, quick,  _ and even  _ Shouyou  _ was having a hard time keeping up with him. The first couple of tosses were borderline ridiculous,  _ yes  _ Shouyou was fast but he still had the disadvantage of his height weighing him down.

Half of the time, Shouyou wouldn’t even get  _ close  _ to hitting the ball. He was begging to feel as frustrated as Kageyama looked. 

It was almost like the guy was a machine, as soon as Shouyou’s feet landed Kageyama would half the ball back in his hand and ready to toss. It barely gave any time for him to think, let alone  _ breathe. _

_ Toss. Miss. Retrieve. Repeat.  _

Almost a half-hour had passed before Tanaka waved them forward with a frown. He began talking to Kageyama as he waved Shouyou away to the bench to take a water-break. 

He was grateful. His throat felt dry and tacky from the air he had been heaving in all morning and his legs were beginning to feel a tad bit like jelly. His sweat clung to him like a second skin.

Maybe Shouyou shouldn’t have given his breakfast to Natsu. His head was beginning to feel all slippery and floaty like it had been filled with helium.

** FROM: TANAKA(5:46AM) **

** You guys need to communicate somehow! Because you can’t hear and we can't have you guys carrying your phones on the court. It's really sloppy right now.  **

Shouyou’s eyebrows furrowed. Was it really that bad?

** Don't worry though little Kouahi! You two have some time still to figure out what works best on the court. You can work with SugaSugaSuga so you two can learn how to play together too!!! **

_ Right.  _ He had almost forgotten that Sugawara was a setter too. 

** TO: TANAKA **

** FROM: YOU(5:48AM) **

** Okay, thank you  **

Shouyou closed his phone and got up to place it back on the sideline. Black spots speckled across his vision momentarily before disappearing again. Tanaka turned to look at him with furrowed eyebrows, he must’ve made a weird-noise or something.

Kageyama pointed at the ball and then to the air with vigor like Shouyou was stupid instead of Deaf. Shouyou locked his eyes on Kageyama's figure, bracing his feet on the floor and waiting for Kageyama to give any sign of his release. 

_ Now! _

Just as Shouyou’s feet left the ground, Kageyama did something that he’d never done before. 

He locked eyes with Shouyou.

The ball was in the air, and Shouyou reached for it, accommodating his body just so he could hit Kageyama’s crazy-insane-impossible toss but-

_ Too far! _

Shouyou reached, but the ball was too far from him to be comfortable. If he  _ were  _ to hit it it would be uncoordinated and out of his control. So he didn’t.

He landed, the impact running all the way up through his body and taking his breath away with it, the ball rolled away.

When he turned to look Tanaka had his phone already in his hand, typing away vigorously. Kageyama had on a look that he couldn’t quite read. Shouyou went to retrieve his phone, his chest burning and throat raw.

There was a splatter of black dots in his vision still from when he had landed but Shouyou decided to ignore it. His head felt like it was going to fall off at any given moment.

** FROM: UNKNOWN NUMBER (5:50AM) **

** Why did you stop? You were right there. **

** TO: UNKNOWN NUMBER **

** FROM: YOU (5:51AM) **

** It was too far from me. Set it closer for me next time, please? **

** FROM: UNKNOWN NUMBER (5:51AM) **

** Be faster.  **

Are you  _ joking-?!  _ Shouyou wasn’t hitting the ball because he wasn’t making the jump soon enough, he wasn’t hitting the ball because the freaking ball was being thrown too far for him to reach. He was small! What the heck did the guy expect him to do, magically make his arms grow a few extra  _ feet?! _

** TO: UNKNOWN NUMBER **

** FROM: YOU (5:52AM) **

** I will be able to hit your ball if you bring it closer to me.  **

Shouyou swallowed his pride as he typed the next phrase.

** TO: UNKNOWN NUMBER **

** FROM: YOU (5:52AM) **

** My arms are shorter than most spikers. **

Shouyou looked up and saw Kageyama blinking back at his phone with a stupid look on his face. 

** FROM: UNKNOWN NUMBER(5:53AM) **

** Oh. Okay. Again. **

Then;

** FROM: UNKNOWN NUMBER(5:53AM) **

** Sorry. **

Huh.

_ Sorry? _

…

Shouyou looked back up from his phone. Kageyama was clenching his jaw with his face tinted red. Oh.  _ Okay. _

Shouyou tapped at Kageyama's arm tentatively.

**_ ‘It is okay.’ _ ** He signed slowly. Kageyama stared, recognition dawning over his face. Shouyou knew that he had been attending the sign language lessons because of Ennoshita. Ennoshita also said that Kageyama was just  _ ‘misunderstood’  _ and that he needed  _ ‘time’. _

Shouyou thinks that Ennoshita must be right, because Kageyama carefully signed to him,  **_ ‘Sorry.’ _ **

Shouyou nodded frantically,  **_ ‘Yes!’  _ **

_ Correct! _

**_ ‘Yes.’ _ ** Kageyama echoed.

Shouyou’s phone vibrated in his hand, he flipped it open.

** FROM: TANAKA(5:56AM) **

** WOAH! You were so close!!! The ball was just a little too far for you to reach, ask Kageyama to adjust to your little vertical challenge there buddy!! If you and Kageyama can get in ONE good spike today I’ll take you both out back to the vending machine. Sound Good? **

Shouyou was suddenly aware of his hollow stomach, the hunger clawing at him like the familiar ache that it was, and cursed Tanaka for reminding him.

(He decided to ignore the comment about his height)

** TO: TANAKA(5:57AM) **

** Yes, please! Thank you very much!! **

They set their phones back on the side-lines. 

**_ ‘Again.’ _ ** Shouyou signed, slower than usual,  **_ ‘Closer.’ _ **

**_ ‘Again.’ _ ** Kageyama mimicked,  **_ ‘Closer.’ _ **

He probably didn’t even know what the signs meant, but Shouyou was okay with that. He was trying harder than half of the kids were on the volleyball team.

Shouyou locked eyes with Kageyama and let the tension coil in his body. When Kageyama moved to send the ball up, Shouyou's feet left the ground.

…

Shouyou wished that he could have heard the resounding smack of the volleyball on the gym-floor.

He couldn’t help the way he pumped his fists in victory as he shouted some intangible word that ripped through his aching throat. 

_ YES! _

\--

Tanaka handed him two milk cartons from the vending machine. When Shouyou looked up in confusion, he waved the look away and pointed at his phone.

** FROM: TANAKA (6:11AM) **

** Breakfast is important!  **

**_ ‘Thank you.’  _ ** Shouyou signed graciously. Tanaka gave him a thumbs up and a grin. 

Shouyou was glad he understood.

He didn’t think he’d be able to show his gratitude any other way.

**_ ‘Thank you.’ _ ** He repeated again quickly, forcing himself to open the carton like a normal person instead of tearing it open like a rabid animal.

The other boys were already in the gyms doing warm-ups, he and Kageyama were told to sit out for the first half of practice. Daichi must have gotten one look at Shouyou and taken pity on the pair of them.

He sat down beside Kageyama as he sipped at his milk. Kageyama did nothing for a moment or two before taking out his phone. 

** FROM: UNKNOWN NUMBER (6:15AM) **

** Teach me.  **

Huh?

Kageyama tapped at his shoulder,  **_ ‘Again. Closer.’  _ ** Before pointing back at his phone.

** FROM: UNKNOWN NUMBER (6:16AM) **

** Teach me what they mean. **

_ Oh.  _

...

** TO: UNKNOWN NUMBER  **

** FROM: YOU (6:17AM) **

** Okay. **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I hope you're all having a lovely day. I really didn't want to drag on Shouyou becoming friends with Kageyama just because we already got some of that interaction in the beginning and all they really needed was that push of understanding each other.
> 
> Comments, Questions, and Criticism are welcomed :)))


	7. Everything sucks.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shouyou hates it here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING  
> -self-deprecating talk  
> -bullying  
> -talk of hunger and poverty.

**_ ‘English Learning Textbook out. 341.’ _ **

Makoto was at the front of the classroom, with his tie fumbled into a hasty knot and his pants crumpled. His socks were mismatched. One was pink and the other was black. The poor guy looked wiped, his eye bags digging in deep under his eyes, and his cheeks hollow. 

Shouyou opened his textbook.

**_ ‘Read. Write a Summary. Questions 4-9,’  _ ** Everybody was getting up suddenly, he left the vibrations of the chairs scraping against the floor under his feet.  **_ ‘Work with somebody.’  _ ** Makoto added. Kids were swarming across the classroom by now, blocking his view of Makoto. Shouyou stayed rooted in his seat.

His stomach sank as he accidentally made eye contact with the group of girls who were pointing and giggling behind their hands. He’d rather have his head shoved in a toilet then work with any one of these stupid-mean-garbage people. Shouyou glanced at the clock, it was almost break time. Assuming that they didn’t finish the work, they would have it leftover for homework.

What a bother.

By the time the swarm had dissolved, Makoto was gone, bag and all.

His teacher tapped at his desk impatiently and pointed to the board where he had written down the instructions for him.

_ Find a partner and read the story starting on page 341. Write a summary and answer questions 4-9. Anything not completed will become homework.  _

Shouyou took out his textbook.

_ Yeah,  _ Shouyou had gotten placed in class-1. The school probably hadn’t even bothered to look at his entrance exam scores and just stuck him in the lowest of the low classes because he was Deaf. 

The material handed to him was horrendous and stupidly easy to the point where he was quite literally flying through the material. The class was easy.  _ Way  _ too easy. Oh well, at least he didn’t have to worry about his grades.

No matter how many meetings his mother would have with the counselor the school would make the same argument that it would be a _ ‘better environment for him’ _ and that _ ‘it’s a slow-paced class that would be easier for him to keep up with.’ _

Because according to the school, if he was Deaf, he was stupid. Lovely.

It didn’t matter anyway, no matter which class Shouyou was placed in he would be ridiculed. It was just how it went.

Somebody shoved at his left shoulder so hard that he felt his entire desk drag against the floor. When he looked up a young girl had turned back to him and bowed with fake sympathy.

Shouyou opened his textbook and got to work.

As soon as he glanced down at the page some inanimate object sailed past his ear. He could see it out of the corner of his eye and felt a gust of air against his ear as it whistled past him, just  _ barely  _ missing. 

When he shot up to cup his ear, the teacher had his head adamantly turned away from him. The other children did not. 

_ I hate it here. _

Shouyou wrote down under one of the questions as another object clipped against the side of his head,  _ I hate it here,  _ he thought bitterly.

\--

The day was finished. He was finally able to go home and forget everything existed.

(Only he couldn't. Because of stupid volleyball.)

The bell had already rung when Shouyou realized that his classmates were getting up from their desks because of the time, not because of yet another group assignment. Shouyou wouldn’t know either way because Makoto Sensei had never returned. The teacher pretended he wasn’t there but the children didn’t (they never did).

Nobody had bothered explaining what page they were reading off of as a class.

Nobody had bothered to explain what the homework was.

Nobody had bothered explaining that the bell had rung, and it was time for everyone to leave campus.

Shouyou gathered his things and tucked his chin into his body, gripping the strap of his satchel tightly. As soon as he had turned the corner outside of the classroom, Ennoshita was waiting for him with a stupid smile on his face. (Somebody shoved at his shoulder. He pretended it didn't happen)

Ennoshitas smile faltered but he didn’t miss a beat (he never did).  **_ ‘Sun. You have something in your hair.’ _ ** Ennoshita frowned, pushing his hands into his unruly hair, abruptly. Shouyou suppressed the urge to flinch away as embarrassment curled low in his gut. Ennoshita was always having to look out for him all because Shouyou couldn’t handle a couple of mean kids in a class for stupid people.

It was pathetic. 

He resisted the urge to slap away the hand say  _ I’m fine! _ Or  _ I can do it myself! _ But Shouyou didn’t think he could ever be angry at Ennoshita like that. So he leaned into the touch and accepted the fact that he was a pathetic nobody.

Shouyou closed his eyes against the feeling, letting Ennoshita fingers untangle the object from his hair. It felt nice. If Shouyou were to have done it he would’ve either yanked it out or cut it out, he doesn’t think he’d ever be as gentle as Ennoshita was being. 

Two fingers tapped at the side of his arm, reluctantly, Shouyou opened his eyes back up.  **_ ‘Okay. All done.’  _ ** He wished that he could have kept his eyes closed, blocked off from all sensory input, and drifting away forever and ever and ever. That way, maybe, everyone would forget he existed (just like he wished they did) because if Shouyou couldn’t see them then neither could they, right?

His throat felt like sandpaper as he tilted his head to look back up at his friend.  **_ ‘Thank you.’ _ **

**_ ‘Always!’ _ ** Ennoshita ruffled his hair, they were shoulder-to-shoulder as they walked down the hallway.  **_ ‘Are you hungry? I have food.’ _ **

(Oh  _ God, yes-) _

Something curled in his gut again, except it was something else entirely from embarrassment. Shouyou said nothing, turning to face forward (which was practically the Deaf version of the silent treatment. Hah. The irony.) 

The sidewalk was filled with kids, swarming up and down the paths as they left the building, some of them making stops at clubrooms. Would Shouyou ever be able able to lose himself in a crowd just like the other children? Briefly, he proposed the idea of letting the wave of the crowd take him, of forgetting where his footing was and letting others make the decisions for him.

He waved away the idea immediately, he would never be able to leave Ennoshita like that. Shouyou grabbed at Ennoshitas uniform as they pushed their way through the crow and to the Karasuno Volleyball Club-room. 

**_ ‘Tired?’ _ ** Ennoshita asked, as he began setting his bag down next to Shouyous.

**_ ‘Yes.’ _ ** He answered truthfully, plopping himself down onto the floor. Two clubrooms belonged to Karasuno, one for the girls to change in and one for the boys, though they usually just dubbed the boy's clubroom  _ The _ Clubroom since, well, it  _ was  _ the Boys Karasuno Volleyball Team. 

Ennoshita sat down beside him as the other boys began to trickle in. He nudged an onigiri in his direction. Shouyou hated how saliva began to pool under his tongue at the sight of it.  **_ ‘Eat.’ _ **

No, Shouyou couldn’t, that was  _ Ennoshitas  _ food.  **_ ‘Eat.’  _ ** he repeated, revealing a bento-box from his bag that had about 12 more onigiri in it.  **_ ‘I have more. Eat.’ _ **

So Shouyou did.

None of the other boys milling around the club-room acknowledged how he was tearing through the poor onigiri like they were nothing. It wasn’t necessarily new, every morning Tanaka would always bring him around the school to get him some milk before practice. Before afternoon practice, one of the older boys would pull out a copious amount of food that they claimed they wouldn’t be able to finish before it went bad. 

Shouyou pretended he didn’t know why, just as they pretended they didn’t notice his frail body and hungry eyes. 

The only other person that had hovered around him was Kageyama, who frowned at him as he devoured the onigiri like a street-rat.  **_ ‘Slow.’  _ ** He signed over and over again. Shouyou cursed himself for teaching him the sign. Kageyama had taken for pressing Shouyou for sign language lessons and new words every second of spare time that they had on the court. 

Shouyou had gone through four (shut up) before forcing himself to stop, he was afraid he would make himself sick and he was pretty sure Ennoshita was thinking the same thing since he was beginning to pull away from the box ever so slowly. Kageyama was nibbling on an onigiri from the same box, he had taken to plopping himself down in front of Shouyou.

Shouyou thinks that he and Kageyama may be friends, but he isn’t too sure. Kageyama doesn’t get angry (often) at him anymore, and when he does he just glowers at him and demands for them to try again.  _ Again.  _ Kageyama would sign. _ Again, again, again. _

Overall, they had bonded over the past week and a half. They spent nearly all of their practice nailing their quick and getting comfortable with each other's movements, learning each other's weaknesses and strengths. Daichi was right, they were __ a powerful duo. 

Outside of practice, Kageyama had taken to tailing after Shouyou to test his sign language skills, he had even begun texting him regularly. Kageyama had a lot more to him than just being an angry brat once he let his guard down.

Kageyama even stopped isolating himself from the group and began to sit with Ennoshita and Shouyou. Though, if anybody else came to join their little sign-language conversation though he would get up and choose a different spot. 

Sugawara crouched down in front of him and placed a warm hand on his knee. Shouyou hadn’t changed out of his school-uniform yet.  **_ ‘Hello.’  _ ** he signed cheekily.

**_ ‘Hello.’ _ **

After a moment or two of hesitation, Sugawara signed.  **_ ‘New person.’ _ ** He continued, unsure. **_ ‘Very big. Very good.’ _ **

Shouyou blinked. There was a new teammate?

Sugawara started to sign something before quickly waving it away and looking at Ennoshita for help. Shouyou looked over at his friend.  **_ ‘A-S-A-H-I. He is tall and looks scary. He is nice and very shy.’ _ **

**_ ‘More scary than K-A-G-E-Y-A-M-A?’  _ ** Out of the corner of his eye, Shouyou saw Kageyama bristle with recognition at the mention of his name.

**_ ‘You will see.’ _ **

**_ ‘He is nice?’ _ **

**_ ‘Yes. He cried when a-’  _ ** Ennoshita frowned, looking lost for a moment.  **_ ‘...How do you say L-A-D-Y-B-U-G?’ _ **

**_ ‘Ladybug.’  _ ** Shouyou signed slowly before repeating it at normal speed.  **_ ‘Ladybug. Ladybug. Ladybug.’ _ **

**_ ‘Ladybug.’ _ **

**_ ‘Ladybug. Yes. Good.’ _ **

Ennoshita signed it a couple more times to get the hang of it before returning to his story.  **_ ‘Thank you. A-S-A-H-I cried when a ladybug was on his arm.’ _ **

The corners of Shouyous mouth quirked up for the first time that day.  **_ ‘Ladybug? Why?’ _ ** His heard felt a little lighter when he imagined someone scarier than Kageyama crying over a  _ ladybug. _

**_ ‘Yes! Very funny!’  _ ** Ennoshita laughed, and for some reason, Shouyou felt something bubble out of his throat too. Kageyama recoiled at whatever repulsive noise he had made, Shouyou didn’t blame him. There was a reason that he had never learned how to speak Japanese.

Some Deaf people chose to spoke because they could find the right pitch that was socially appropriate. Shouyou wasn’t one of those people, he just sounded  _ weird.  _ Natsu had even said it herself.  _ Not normal. Weird.  _

**_ ‘Come. Now.’  _ ** Sugawara waved him towards the door, pausing before signing;  **_ ‘G-Y-K’  _ **

_ Gym? _ He probably hadn’t known the sign for  _ gym _ and tried to finger-spell. That hadn’t worked out too well. Clearly

**_ ‘G-Y-M.’ _ ** Shouyou corrected.  **_ ‘M’ _ **

**_ ‘G-Y-M!’  _ ** Sugawara signed triumphantly.  **_ ‘M!’ _ **

**_ ‘Gym.’ _ ** Shouyou slowed down the real sign for the word  _ gym. _ **_ ‘Gym.’ _ **

**_ ‘Gym!’ _ **

**_ ‘Yes.’ _ **

**_ ‘Gym!’ _ ** Kageyama tried.

**_ ‘Yes. Good.’ _ **

**_ ‘Gym.’ _ ** Kageyama signed again.  **_ ‘Gym. Gym, gym. Gym. Gym.’ _ **

**_ ‘Yes.’ _ **

**_ ‘Gym.’ _ **

**_ ‘Yes.’ _ **

**_ ‘Gym’ _ **

**_ ‘Yes.’ _ **

Sugawara shoved at Kageyama's shoulder playfully, almost making him lose his balance. Kageyama looked confused.

**_ ‘Hurry and change.’  _ ** Ennoshita had apparently already changed when Kageyama and himself were going back and forth.

**_ ‘Okay.’ _ **

By the time Shouyou had made it to the gym, it was in chaos. 

Tanaka and Nishinoya were having some sort of excited dance-off, Yamaguchi was trying to calm down Tsukishima who had (by the looks of it) been nailed square in the nose with a ball by a very guilty looking Narita. Ennoshita was trying to set up the net for the day's practice with Kinnoshita and  _ oh  _ look at that, Nishinoya was climbing on top of Tanaka like he was a tree trunk. 

Kageyama noticed him and immediately made his way over to him, a volleyball already in hand.  **_ ‘Now.’  _ ** he signed impatiently.  **_ ‘Now. Practice.’  _ **

Briefly, Shouyou wondered why Daichi hadn’t put a stop to all of before glancing over and finding that both Daichi and Sugawara were trying to pull some big-foot looking kid back into the gym doors. It seemed his escape plan had failed. 

**_ ‘Now. Practice.’  _ ** Kageyama demanded again. 

**_ ‘Is that A-S-A-H-I?’  _ ** Shouyou pointed over to where the big-foot kid was being yanked in through the gym doors and  _ woah. _

Yep.

_ He was definitely scarier than Kageyama.  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this chapter ahem...... sucks. Haha, I totally forgot to write a chapter this week because I've been swamped with school. I just figured it'd be good to throw a chapter out there even if its terrible.
> 
> I know everything a bit rushed but the whole storyline is following Hinata and how he grows so... hopefully a couple of you guys will stick around haha? Thanks for reading!


	8. Rules and Manuals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The consequences of a Deaf teammate surface and Hinata gets nailed in the face by a volleyball. Again. (Damn it, Tanaka)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING  
> -blood  
> -talk of malnourishment  
> -talk of poverty  
> -talk of death

_ “Asahi! _ Come  _ on-!” _ Koushi begged, tugging at his arm in futile. It was certainly a lot harder to drag a brute of a man into a building against his will when he didn’t have Daichi by his side (who had gone to rip Tanaka and Nishinoya apart). “You’re such a  _ baby-” _

“I can’t go back! Just let me leave this club while I still have dignity-”

“ASAHI!”

Oh boy. Asahi was  _ definitely  _ stuck here now, whether he liked it or not-

“ASAAAAAAAHHHHHI-!” Nishinoya yelled again, animalistic and  _ far  _ too loud. He bounded over, tripping over his own feet, and looking more like a child than anything in the moment. 

“Asahi?” 

“Ah! Asahi! It’s good to see that you’re still alive,”

“Hey-! There’s our ace!”

“Thank god you’re here, I honestly thought we would have to do this season without you-”

“Everyone-!” Asahi was beet red in the face, looking like he was about to pass out. Oh well, at least he wasn’t trying to escape anymore. 

“Are you Asahi?” Takeda Sensei looked dwarfed next to him.

“Y-Yes!” Asahi said, immediately bowing. Takeda Sensei startled at the sudden movement. 

“Ah… hello, perhaps you could change quickly so we can start practice for the day?” He gently nudged Asahi in the opposite direction, adjusting his glasses. “We are incredibly behind schedule. Run along now, the changing rooms are that way.”

“You m-m-misunderstand my intentions S-sensei-”

“Asahi-!” Ennoshita called, making his over and dragging something behind him that looked suspiciously like their little red-headed first-year. “I want to introduce you to someone!”

Asahi groaned. “I’m not even going to…” 

Hinata was stumbling over his own feet, adamantly trying to tug Ennoshita in the opposite direction with a frantic look on his face. Surprisingly, Kageyama was gliding right alone side Ennoshita. Koushi wasn’t entirely sure when Kageyama started following Hinata around like a lost puppy (It was practically a change overnight), but he didn’t really care either. He was just glad that Kageyama had finally found his place in the group.

“This-” Ennoshita tugged the poor boy in front of him and placed his hands on his shoulders. “-is Hinata!” 

Hinata’s eyes nearly bugged out of his when he finally got a good look at Asahi. His head had to crane all the way back just to be able to look at Asahi’s face, it looked painful. He looked nauseous.

“Hello, Hinata…”

Hinata was staring pointedly at Koushi like it was his fault that Asahi was built like a brick wall.

“He can’t hear you,” Kageyama grit out. There was a volleyball in his hands that he was staring at longingly.

“Huh?”

“He’s deaf,” Ennoshita explained, tapping at Hinata’s shoulder to get his attention. He glared back up at Ennoshita, face still pale and hands clenched anxiously. “You’ll have to figure out how to talk to him yourself, there are sign language classes that Takeda Sensei signed the team up for. Unless you already know JSL, you should  _ probably _ go-”

Ennoshita signed something too fast for Koushi to understand, though he did catch a couple of words. Something about Hinata introducing himself.

**_ ‘Hello.’ _ **

“He says hello.” Koushi nudged at Asahi.

“H-Hello-”

“ _ Asahi. _ ” Ennoshita blanched, “Come on, don’t be dense.”

**_ ‘Hello.’  _ ** Asahi sighed back, wobbly and… not correctly but it was the thought that counts.

Ennoshita grinned back up at Asahi. Hinata took the opportunity to push himself into Ennoshitas side, twisting his fingers into his uniform. It wasn’t an uncommon thing to see. Hinata was skittish, which was the whole reason that Koushi had sought him out before practice, so he could prepare himself. Not to mention that Hinata had absolutely  _ no  _ clue what was going on. 

Asahi reached his hand out (down) to Hinata, presumably to shake it. Hinata didn’t move to take it. A couple of seconds passed as Asahi shuffled his feet with his hand extended before he deflated.

“He  _ hates  _ me,” he mumbled to himself, hand swinging uselessly back to his side. “Just like everyone else on the  _ team--” _

Koushi winced in sympathy, he knew how it felt to be shunned by Hinata. Not his favorite feeling in the world. He jabbed at Asahi’s side, who yelped (squealed) in surprise, “Don’t be so depressing Asahi!”

“He’s just-” Ennoshitas words falter as some sort of disapproving noise tumbled out of Hinata’s throat. He had never been very good at holding in his little noises, (for as long as Koushi had known him, anyway,) it was endearing. Hinata turned his face into Ennoshita’s side. “Uh...S-shy,” Ennoshita trailed off, unsure.

Asahi hung his head in defeat. 

“Go change you big oaf!” Koushi jabbed him in the side again, hoping to distract him (a sad Asahi was a useless Asahi) “Daichi is getting impatient.”

“But-”

Ennoshita shook his head, “Don’t be so difficult! Go and change or else you’ll make Daichi angry.”

“ASAHI!”

“Ah- Nishinoya…!” 

“Sorry I couldn’t talk to you earlier but Daichi was yelling at me and you know how he is when he’s angry-” Nishinoya was bouncing on the heels of his feet, his arms were thrown out wide, “I’m so happy your back on the team but I’m also still so mad that you left in the first place your such a stupid person, I mean-”

“Can we practice now?” Kageyama grouched loudly.

“Oh! KAGEYAMA-!”

Koushi groaned. “You three- back on the court. Nishinoya, go find Asahi a place to put his stuff in the club-room. Ennoshita, you’re with me and Daichi, we need to talk.”

_ “Yes.” _ They all drawled back simultaneously, with various degrees of emotion.

Ennoshita signed something quickly to Hinata, he was able to catch a few words in it. He was just explaining the situation. Hinata reluctantly detached himself from Ennoshita with a grumble. Kageyama all but dragged Hinata over to the court, buzzing with anticipation.

Koushi took Ennoshita’s arm, “Don’t worry, you’re not in trouble.”

“...Is Hinata in trouble?”

“Mmmm… no,” He said. Daichi turned from where he was scolding Tanaka when he noticed the pair of them. “Daichi and I just want to clear up a couple of things.” 

“So it  _ is _ Hinata.”

“Well,  _ yes,  _ but-”

“Are you kicking him off the team?” Ennoshita asked genuinely and something twisted horrendously in Koushi’s gut. Daichi recoiled at the suggestion.

“ _ You’re kicking Hinata off the team?! _ ” Tanaka’s eyebrows bunched together. “You can’t-! He and Kageyama are, like, the only reason we might be able to make it to-” 

“Absolutely  _ not _ ,” Daichi stated firmly. “Tanaka, get back on the court and mind your own business, Ennoshita, Suga, follow me.” 

“So you’re... not kicking Hinata off the team-?” Ennoshita asked tentatively as they made their way to the bench that Takeda-Sensei was sitting on. 

“It’s actually the opposite.” Koushi reassured, “He and Kageyama have a  _ monster  _ quick and without Hinata, we wouldn’t have a very lenient Kageyama.”

“Ah, boys. Please gather around.” Takeda Sensei held up a clipboard for them to see. “Kiyoko and I have been finalizing the prints that Sugawara and Daichi have created for communication during a game.”

“Don’t we already have a…?” Ennoshita shook his head, “I don’t understand why we’re creating new signals, Suga already has some, and why am  _ I  _ here?” 

“Even  _ with  _ signals we still have to be able to communicate on the court,” Koushi explained, “It becomes more difficult when Hinata is Deaf, so we’ve decided to create another set of signals for him.”

“Oh.” Ennoshita said, and then,  _ “Oh-!”  _ His eyes lit up as he snatched up the clipboard and began flipping through the pages. “God- this is  _ genius!  _ We’re going to have to fix the grammar on some of these- but  _ yes!” _

“So...they work?” Koushi asked hopefully. They had come up with short sentences that could be created with a minimal amount of hand movement in a short amount of time. Something easy so that they could communicate together quickly before each move.

_ They  _ had the easy part, Hinata would have the more difficult task of being extra attentive during games and picking up on every signal thrown his way letting him know what the plan was.

“We’ll have to test them on the court first but  _ yes,  _ I’ll introduce them to Hinata immediately.” Ennoshita grinned. 

“Ahem, speaking of Hinata…” Tanaka cleared his throat to gain their attention. “Because he is Deaf, we have to go through a considerable amount of paperwork to qualify for each game that we play. He is considered disabled by the Japanese government, so that could limit us greatly to the number of games we’re invited to. I’ve just about gotten through all of my paperwork, Ennoshita-”

“Yes.”

“You’ll need to explain to Hinata the situation, and that he needs to stop by my office after practice with a parent or guardian so we can work through the paperwork. 

“Y-Yes.” Ennoshita faltered. 

“I’m sorry,” Takeda Sensei smiled apologetically, “I would ask him myself, but I’m not very skilled at sign language yet.”

“Uh- Sensei…!” Ennoshita asked, looking unsure. “Wouldn’t it be easier if I just came in to help with the paperwork?”

Takeda Sensei paused, searching Ennoshitas face. “....No.” He took the clipboard from Ennoshitas hands and removed the papers before handing them back. “I need a parent or guardian to sign off.” His eyebrows furrowed. “Is there an issue here that I’m not aware of?”

The papers crinkled in Ennoshita’s grip. Daichi laid a heavy hand on Ennoshita’s shoulder. “If Hinata is being…  _ hurt  _ at home...then--”

It would make sense, now that Koushi thought about it. Everybody had seen the bruises, the threadbare clothing, and knobby knees. His heart squeezed at the thought.

“No!” Ennoshita blurted, shaking his head in a flurry, “That's not it! It’s just-its. Uh, well- It's- his parents work l-long hours and… well- Uhm-?” He shrunk back, eyes staying trained on his volleyball shoes like he had just spilled some grand secret “...It’s not really my place to say”

“Money is tight,” Koushi stated like it was a fact- because it was.

The kid’s clothes sagged off of him like nothing was containing them, and his school-uniform was a patchwork of different materials like one of those damn scarecrows in American cartoons. Koushi knew it. Takeda Sensei knew it. Everyone knew it.

Ennoshita nodded, “R-Really…  _ Really  _ tight.” Before adding, “I-I could just come in so his parents wouldn't have to-”

But Takeda Sensei cut him off. “I’m aware of the situation.” 

“I’ve reviewed his file. If nobody can take the time off to meet with me then I’ll be forced to go to his house and resolve the issue myself.” In a softer tone, Takeda-Sensei added “You are a kind boy, Ennoshita. Don't forget to inform him about this, there is a time limit on this paperwork.”

“Yes, Sensei.” He muttered meekly, bowing before scrambling back to the general direction of the court. 

“Geez…” Koushi frowned after Takeda Sensei dismissed them. For someone who was going to take over as Team Captain, Ennoshita could be a real scatter-brain sometimes. 

A sudden off-pitch shout startled Koushi. Hinata’s face was scrunched up and his forehead all red from the impact of a ball that  _ must  _ have come off of Tanaka's hand (again) from the way Hinata was reeling backward. Ennoshita steadied him from where he was stumbling off-balance, it must’ve caught him off guard. 

Koushi swallowed when he took in how frail Hinata looked, how his clothes hung off of him, how small he was. 

His nose was bleeding, the blood following the curve of his lips before balancing precociously off of his chin. It looked out of place on his pale skin, he looked sickly. Almost dead.

(“Nishinoya go find a towel or- or something!”)

Daichi grunted in agreement, Koushi had almost forgotten that he had even made a remark in the first place. They watched as Nishinoya fumbled around for something to stop the bleeding, as Tanaka melted to the floor in a bow, miserable with guilt. 

(“Shit-  _ Shit!  _ Sorry Hinata oh- oh f- Ennoshita tell him I said sorry-!”)

_ We should probably be doing something about the situation _ , Koushi thought,  _ we are the team captains after all. _

Tanaka-Senpai led Hinata to the bench to sit, a steady trail of blood drops following him. Kiyoko went to go fetch the mop. 

“...Yeah,” Daichi mumbled as Hinata wiped at his face. The blood smeared all over his hands and cheeks and-

-he was so pale,  _ so pale,  _ the blood made his skin almost gray.

( _ “Geez.” “...Yeah.”) _

Koushi thinks that their little exchange may have meant a little more than what was said. Especially with Hinata looking extraordinarily small with blood smeared all over his skin and a hand twisted in Ennoshita uniform. He was cupping Hinata’s head and tilted it back (slowly, so slowly) to help him hold a rag to his nose (gently, like Hinata was made of glass).

Yeah.

Koushi swallowed thickly.

_ Yeah. _

\--

There was blood on the floor that Kiyoko and Tanaka were cleaning up because Hinata was bleeding. Ennoshita was tilting his head back and helping him stop the blood, Tanaka Senpai said his nose wasn’t broken but Tobio wasn’t so sure. 

“Is he still able to play?” Tobio asked. He couldn’t help it, Hinata was the only one that could ever keep up with him,

Both on the court and off.

He was the only one that Tobio sat next to, he was the only one that Tobio tossed to, he was the only one that Tobio waited for outside of the changing rooms. 

He was the only one Tobio  _ tolerated. _

“Not today, Kageyama.” Narita patted him on the back heartily and a flash of irritation passed through him.

_ Ugh. _

He went to go shove at Hinata’s shoulder to get his attention so he could see if he was alright, but decided against it. Hinata looked half-dead right now, he had always been pale but the blood made him look like a damn  _ corpse.  _

Instead, he settled for a light tap. Hinata's eyes slid over to where Tobio was, a weird nasally noise tumbled out of his throat. Tobio grimaced. 

“ _ Oi _ , dumbass-” 

**_ ‘Hi.’ _ **

“-Language, Kageyama!” Takeda Sensei warned. 

He was on the list of  _ People I Strongly Dislike From The Team _ , Tobio wondered why Takeda Sensei was here if he didn’t know the first thing about volleyball to begin with. He had heard rumors in the locker-room about a new coach coming in soon but he wasn’t so sure about that either.

“Yes, Sensei.” he gritted out. 

Nishinoya snorted at him, shoving at his shoulder playfully “Way to respect your teacher.” he said, and Tobio had to refrain from punching the lights out of him. Seriously, what was it about the Karasuno volleyball team and the  _ lack  _ of personal space?

_ Whatever.  _

**_ ‘Hi.’  _ ** Hinata signed back, the best that he could while he was holding a rag to his nose. 

**_ ‘You are.’ _ ** Tobio started before hesitating, unsure. His sign language had gotten better since he had become actual 'friends' with Hinata because he was able to practice on the daily. Now, he was able to get by with common phrases he had memorized and a vocabulary of about 30 words or so.  **_ ‘You are okay?’ _ **

**_ ‘Yes.’ _ **

**_ ‘Good.’ _ **

Ennoshita moved Hinata’s head back to the angle where it was supposed to be. It had drooped back to its normal position while he had been making small talk with Tobio.

“Jeez, the blood hadn’t stopped yet?” Nishinoya asked.

“No,” Ennoshita said, biting at his bottom lip. “Maybe we should get the nurse.”

“He’ll be alright.” Daichi said, “Don’t worry about it.”

“He’s just- It’s just that-” 

He’s malnourished, too skinny, too pale, too small, he was  _ frail. _

“Yeah, I know." Daichi said grimly, "He doesn’t look like he’s going to pass out anytime soon though.”

“Alright, back to practice,” Takeda Sensei shooed the crowd away from the bench, “You boys need to get a new formation down now that we’ve got Asahi.”

_ “Yes, Sensei.” _

Ennoshita didn’t move from his spot, so neither did Tobio.

\--

**_ ‘Drawing book.’  _ ** Shouyou tugged at Ennoshita’s satchel,  **_ ‘Drawing book, please!’ _ **

**_ ‘Eat first.’  _ ** Ennoshita flicked his forehead and handed him the bag of meat buns. It was still warm.  **_ ‘Eat first. You died today.’ _ **

Tanaka had nailed him in the face when he hadn't been paying attention. It had been his fault, and he still felt guilty about costing practice for everyone (and for almost giving Ennoshita a heart attack)

**_ ‘Dramatic.’  _ ** He stuck his tongue out, tugging at Ennoshita’s satchel again. He pushed the bag of meat buns back into Ennoshitas hands.

**_ ‘No!’  _ ** Ennoshita protested,  **_ ‘Lots of blood. Death.’ _ ** He turned dramatically to Shouyou, jabbing him in the chest. **_ ‘Dead!’ _ **

Shouyou pretended to stumble back, grinning,  **_ ‘Yes. I am dead.’ _ **

Ennoshita threw his head back in a silent laugh and Shouyou followed suit.

He stuffed a meat bun into Shouyou’s mouth, effectively silencing whatever weird noise was tearing through his throat.

**_ ‘Eat!’ _ ** He signed again.

Shouyou grinned and took a bite out of the meat bun. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't forget this week! Yay!
> 
> I gotta go rlly quick cause I literally spent all afternoon finishing this lmfao and I have a criminal psychology essay do at 11:59 okay good night I love you guys <3 <3 
> 
> Have a lovely day!!


	9. Garbage flavored Soup

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shouyou takes a shower in the boy's bathroom stall and Suga is kind of pretty(?)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING:
> 
> -Self-deprecating thoughts  
> -Bullying

It was in the early hours of the morning when Shouyou pushed the stack of paperwork to his mother from across the table. 

**_‘What is this?’_ **

He could see how tired his mother was, how her hands trembled as she moved to take the papers, how her eyes were glazed over, how she slumped over the table with the terrible posture that she was always scolding them about. 

**_‘V-O-L-L-E-Y-B-A-L-L’_ **

Shouyou poked at the very bottom of the top paper where his mother needed to sign but she swatted his finger away. Her eyes darted from side to side as she began to leaf through them. Her eyes were bloodshot and frantic like she hadn’t had anything for the past 6 hours except for coffee (and knowing his mother she probably hadn’t).

Shouyou had taken the time to highlight all of the important bits for his mother as soon as he’d gotten home, deciding to head straight home instead of seeking out his daily dose of After-School-Ennoshita.

His mother pushed her hair away from her face sloppily. It was frizzy and unruly, so unlike how she usually wore her hair: down to her waist with an unholy amount of the _Curl-perfecting-cream_ she had picked up from some convenience store for 5 dollars. 

**_‘Sensei wants to meet in the morning.’_ ** Shouyou snuck a glance at the clock. 

_1:34 am_

...today, Sensei wanted to meet today then.

He turned back to his mother. Right now, her hair was ugly and tangled, almost as bad as Shouyous own head. It wasn’t supposed to be like Shouyous, it was supposed to be like her own. Pretty.

**_‘Tomorrow Morning?’_ **

**_‘Yes.’_ **

She dragged a hand down her face, her make-up long past ruined. Shouyou hated himself for ignoring the way her mascara was smeared against her pretty face from the moment she had stepped into the house. 

She mumbled something into her hands; he could tell because her jaw was moving.

**_‘Time?’_ **

**_‘Early. Before school.’_ ** She sunk down a little bit further in her seat, seemingly melting under the mental agony of two jobs and a family of 3. Shouyou brushed his fingers along his mother’s. She looked up. **_‘It does not have to be today.’_ **

She picked up the pen that he had laid out for her before she’d gotten home; her hands were trembling.

**_‘Thank you. Go to sleep.’_ **

**_‘Work?’_ **

She shooed away the comment with a tight-lipped smile. **_‘Sleep. Talk later.’_ **

**_‘Okay.’_ **

Shouyou thinks that maybe he would be able to hear her crying from exhaustion if he wasn’t deaf.

_Maybe,_ he thinks as he crawls into bed (remembering her shaking hands and tight-lipped smile and smeared eyeliner and-) _Maybe I don’t need to be able to hear._

\--

Later that morning (when it was socially acceptable to be awake) Shouyou had sat behind a desk with his mother while Takeda Sensei went over the forms. She looked beaten down and dreary. Tired. 

Nevertheless, she had gotten up hours earlier than she needed to just so she could look presentable to take Shouyou to school. His mother had stood by the door dressed in her worn red dress that had loose ends at the bottom and a missing button. Shouyou only knew about it because he had watched her refasten the two ends with a safety pin once before Sunday Mass back when he was still too young to understand the concept of God. That was when they used to go to Mass. They didn’t go very much anymore.

**_“Ready?”_ **She had asked as she pulled on her overcoat and double-checked her makeup (mascara and a red lip tint) in the mirror.

She still hadn’t done her hair that morning. Instead, it was in a long thick braid, tied off with a crummy hair-tie that showed off half of the rubber band. Shouyou thinks that she may have combed some conditioner through her curls since she smelled like coconut and her hair was sleek without any flyaways.

The mini-meeting had run late even though they had purposely arrived an hour and a half before homeroom. At one point his mother had jabbed one of her fingers into the form angrily with a twisted up face. Shouyou still remembered how Teacher Takeda shrunk back so far in his seat that Shouyou was sure he could see the chewing gum he had stuck to the bottom of the desk just before they arrived. 

**_‘You have to go to class. It will start in 5 minutes. I will stay here. I will text you when it is finished.’_ **

He wanted to protest but knew better. His mother had a quicksilver tongue, and while it might not translate very well over to sign language he could very much tell exactly her intentions just by glancing at her face.

So Shouyou had kissed his mother on the cheek and slung his schoolbag over his shoulder.

**_‘Goodbye. Text me when you are home. I love you.’_ **

**_‘I love you. Have a good day.’_ **

Which is how Shouyou got to where he was now. Sitting on the floor of the boy’s bathroom, hoping that maybe the wretched boys will somehow forget the color of his sneakers and not notice his suspiciously small Shouyou-Shaped-Shadow.

A good day he was having indeed.

Something slammed up against the bathroom stall, he could feel the vibrations from where his hands were bracing themselves against the stall wall as he brought up his feet to precautiously balance on the toilet seat. 

Another slam.

His foot slipped into the toilet water. _Ew._

It was only the third time that they slammed into the door that he was beginning to question the stability of his little hideout because he swore that every single time they rammed themselves into the door the lock jiggled just a little bit further to the left and, you know Shouyou never really curses but he thinks that the situation might call for it because-

_Fuck._

The lock was just about to unlatch itself and ultimately doom him.

Immediately he was scrambling from his spot on the toilet to throw himself back against the door. He slid the lock all the way back to the far right (where it belongs). The door was shaking violently, Shouyou could feel the fists pounding against it. He could only imagine how much noise they were making. 

He sank back to the toilet, instead opting for sitting on the seat. What was the point of hiding his shoes if they already knew where he was? The dumb boys were probably spewing their cruel words and sinful curses; jokes on them, Shouyou was _deaf._

(...Which is how he even became a target in the first place but that’s really not important right now is it-?)

There were four pairs of sneakers he could see peeking out from under the bathroom stall. There was no there Shouyou would be able to outrun all four of them even if he somehow made it past the bathroom sinks without getting folded like a fricking chair. 

His phone buzzed against his side; it was his mother. How that he thought about it she hadn’t ever texted him that she’d made it home alright, she was probably just checking in with him.

**FROM: Mama <3 (11:52 pm) **

**HI mom said not to forget 2 pick up milk at the storeee!!! (its Natsu btw)**

What the heck?

Maybe Natsu had a doctor’s appointment that Shouyou had forgotten about. Or _maybe…_

** FROM: Mama <3 (11:52pm)  **

**I got in2 a Fight >:) **

_What the heck?!_

** TO: Mama <3  **

** FROM: You (11:52 pm)  **

**NATSU! YOUR JOKING! Tell me all about it right now.**

** FROM: Mama <3 (11:53pm)  **

**Cant moms pissed!! lol she took my phone and everything ripriprip ill tell u after school if im not dead yet ˚‧º·(˚ ˃̣̣̥᷄⌓˂̣̣̥᷅ )‧º·˚**

** TO: Mama <3 (11:53pm)  **

**You better stop cursing before m-**

But Shouyou never got a chance to finish because suddenly he felt a drop of something wet on the back of his neck and looked up only to-

Oh _fuck-_

Immediately he threw his hands over his head as an entire trash bag filled with sink water (not piss Shouyou really hoped it wasn’t _piss-_ ) was dumped into his stall.

_Gross._ Shouyou felt a groan creep out of his throat; the stench was already starting to get to him. He flicked his arms outward and the soggy mush flung from the sleeves of his uniform back to the floor. His arms didn’t do much for protecting his uniform and hair from taking damage. Maybe if he could hear, he would’ve had enough time to put his satchel over his head instead. 

He really hoped it was just paper from the paper-towel dispenser and not toilet paper-

There was one more rattle of the door before finally began to see the boy's feet retreat.

Shouyou picked up his phone from the corner of the stall, he must have dropped it when he had brought up his arms as a poor imitation for an umbrella. As soon as he took a step forward he felt his socks squelch in his shoes. 

Shouyou closed his eyes with a full-body cringe and pressed lips. 

So, _so gross._

\--

Honestly, Daichi wasn’t sure what he expecting to see when Suga opened his backpack up, but it was definitely not a crushed bundle of roses and a flattened box of pastries. Daichi tried to hide his grimace by shoving some more rice into his mouth.

“Who’s the lucky girl?” He asked at the same time as Yui gasped horribly like someone had died (and for some reason Daichi felt like somebody had).

“Suga sweetie, listen if you're even going to think about asking out some girl you should at least make sure your roses don't look like they were printed out on a piece of _paper_ -”

Suga flicked her in the forehead. “Shush! Don’t be so rude Yui, this is why you don't have a boyfriend.”

“Hey!” She snapped back, “I don't need a boyfriend! I have you three and that's enough for me!”

“What is this? A harem?” Daichi grumbled into his food. It was too early in the day to be doing this (even though it wasn’t even all that early). It was lunchtime and Asahi, Suga, Yui, and himself were huddled in the stairwell trading off food just like any other day

“Yes.” Both Suga and Yui said.

“Don’t bring me into this, _please…_ ” Asahi moaned.

“Seriously though, what have you got planned in that pretty little head of yours Suga?” Yui slung an arm around his neck affectionately.

“First of all, I’m not the little one here-”

Now that Daichi couldn't agree with. Yui was practically a midget but Daichi still had about two or three inches on Suga, making him the second shortest person in their little _harem_ or whatever. Though, Daichi could agree that Suga did indeed have a pretty head...

(Wait _what-)_

“Let's fight, right now, me and you let's go, square up-”

“-SECOND OF ALL, it's for someone _special.”_

_Special, huh?_

“Yeah, they’re going to be feeling special all right.” Asahi winced as he took a look in the bag for himself. Daichi snorted.

“Hey! Come on Dai back me up.”

“Can’t. Eating.” He said as he shoveled some more food into his mouth. Suga huffed and flopped down dramatically on the floor. 

“Is it that bad?”

There was a resounding _yes_ that echoed in the stairwell. Suga huffed again, except this time it was less sassy and filled with something sadder. Daichi swallowed.

“Cheer up. I’m not sure if we can do anything about those roses... but we _can_ put those pastries to use.” Suga sat up with that goofy soft smile of his.

“Is this just you trying to get some free food?”

Another resounding _yes_ rang in the air.

“... _Fine,”_ Suga pulled out the box, and Asahi and Yui practically pounced on him, fighting to get the most intact pastries. “I feel used.” Suga sniffed with fake sorrow.

“Daichi? Don’t you want any?” Suga looked at him expectantly. The sun was from a nearby window blanketed over Suga like honey. Daichi swallowed again, harder this time. 

“Yeah, I’m just going to wash my hands first. I think I accidentally touched some gum under one of the steps just now.” Lame excuse. Suga faltered, his eyes searching. 

“Okay…” He set down the box of pastries as Asahi dove in for seconds. “I’ll come too then!” 

_What?_ No. No,no,no,no. No. What Daichi was _actually_ going to do was scream into his uniform jacket in some random bathroom stall but now he couldn't because Suga (the reason he was even planning on screaming in the first place) was going to follow him in and-

“Unless you don't want me to? I get it if you just… kinda want some time to yourself.”

“No,” Daichi stood up, dusting off his pants. “You can come.”

“We're going to the bathroom!” Suga announced, “Save some for us please!”

Yui grunted, half of a strawberry pastry sticking out of her mouth. Asahi flashed them a thumbs up before the two of them turned down the hallway. 

“Are you okay? You’ve been kind of quiet all of lunch, so…” Suga trailed off tugging at the collar of his third awkwardly. “I don’t want to automatically assume something bad happened today but your kind of my best friend so in all of my right I’m automatically assuming something bad happened today.”

_Best friend._

“Nah. ‘M just tired.” Daichi waved it off, “Tired and hungry.” Suga hummed, occasionally bumping into his side as they made their way. The hallway was relatively quiet, the only thing present was the quiet hum of the air conditioner. Most of the students sat outside for lunch since it was still warm outside. It was perfect weather. 

It seemed like nothing could break whatever comfortable silence they created until a group of rowdy boys tore their way through the hallway, the bathroom door slamming shut behind them. “Watch it,” Daichi warned as the boys almost ran the two of them over.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever man!”

Suga frowned, “Rude… and not even like Tsukishima or Kageyama rude, like… _rude_ rude.”

Daichi laughed fondly as they watched the boys run through the hallway recklessly. “Yeah, _rude_ rude.” (whatever that means) 

It was such a Suga thing to make up weird words or phrases that never really made any sense, but if Suga said it, then it was practically in the dictionary. Maybe Daichi was a little grateful that Suga had ended up tagging along afterall. 

He swung the bathroom door open and held it there for Suga. 

“Thanks for coming with me, It was nice to-” but Daichi stopped himself short, 

_The hell-?_

Turns out Daichi really _was_ grateful that Suga tagged along with him because-

“Hinata?!”

-because he wasn’t sure how he would handle a soaking wet Hinata who looked like he just took a swim through waste-land-soup. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IM ALLIIIVVVEE!!!
> 
> Thank you guys so much for keeping me going with all of your wonderful comments and thank you SO MUCH for being patient with me (literally have not updated my other works in like 6 months sob). I swear I'm reading your comments I just haven't had the time to respond to any of them :( <3\. Don't worry I'm not dropping this series! It's just that school started getting really hectic so I haven't had time to really update. 
> 
> I'll throw updates out there whenever I can for the next couple of months until my damn workload lets me breathe lol
> 
> (UNIMPORTANT SIDENOTE: my friend is really into K-Pop and he finally convinced me to listen to some of it. Mr. Simple by Super Junior was on loop for the whole four hours I was writing this chapter. Ong that song goes hard as hell its a banger)

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, thanks so much for reading! 
> 
> Sorry for the wait on this fic, I know I put out a beta version of this previously but I deleted it after I decided I didn't really like the concept box around it too much. I hope you like Aliyah, she won't be too big a character in the story but you could probably expect her to be pop in every few chapters or so.
> 
> Comments, Criticism, and Prompts are welcomed :)
> 
> Have a lovely day!


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